It could be where the main ingredient (navy beans) come from.
The Italians add tomato sauce (using imported tomatoes possibly from Africa or China) and navy beans, can them…and then call them Italian baked beans.
The Woolworths ones are also ‘Made in Italy with ingredients from multiple origins’.
I’m sorry Gaby, I have de-vulgared my comment. I had wrongly assumed that the offending expression was common language and you have rightly pointed out that it is too common, vulgar in fact. ‘Common’ in Latin is vulgaris, which is the species name of the bean.
An interesting read in the history of navy bean production. Considering the volumes they could be as difficult to grow locally as zinfandel grapes are reputed to be.
It seems all relevant articles are dated, this being one of the more recent ones, that covers more than just beans.
yet 25 years back
My comment was only to suggest that how other people eat their beans, or what a tasting panel thought were the best flavoured beans, wouldn’t be part of my decision on what brand I buy (and I buy a lot), so I couldn’t see the point of such research. Overall I endorse Choice’s research, testing and advice on the quality and value of all the products and services we test, even though I buy few of them. Yes, we all benefit from our subscriptions to Choice, keeping consumer industries honest and their goods safe.
Thank you @charlienic.
I still remember my Latin and understand trying to justify the usage of the word.
Anyway, it’s all good🙂
We use baked beans to cut down on meat, e.g. we include them in dishes with mince. We also have them on toast.
The results are in. All you need to know about beans:
I’ve never found a brand of baked beans that wasn’t too sweet, so I now mix half a can of (low sugar) tomato soup with a can of beans and, voila, baked beans I can enjoy!
A recipe from the Worldwide Cookbook we bought in the 1970’s.
I actually cooked it many years ago but we did not like it and never tried it again.
Baked beans mixed with tuna is common in our home. Our youngun loves this on toast.
We have them (salt free type) as a quick Friday dinner, with grilled haloumi, tomatoes and an egg (fried or poached), then add some lettuce on the side with a dash of vinaigrette and you have a well balanced meal. Sometime, I swap the haloumi with chopped chorizo (a good one, with a spanish smoked paprika flavour).
Problem for me is that so many brands are not gluten free. Would eat them more often if they were and I intend to make them myself when I get organised
It is worth reading the Choice article in @BrendanMays post above. This article states…
Fifteen of the 17 baked-beans products we looked at don’t have gluten – or gluten-derived ingredients – in their ingredients lists and make no reference to gluten in their allergen statements.
The exceptions are Watties Baked Beans in Tomato Sauce, which contains wheat flour, and Coles Baked Beans in BBQ Sauce, which includes a flavour that contains wheat.
It would be interesting to know if the labels of the 15 also state Gluten Free.
Only homemade for me.
All the commercial versions are full of sugar and salt giving a coarse taste and poor health outcomes.
The Age May 2012 carried a detailed investigation into tinned tomatoes from Italy “Canned: why local tomatoes cop a pasting”. Allegedly “Italy’s tomato industry has two key competitive advantages: cheap, sometimes illegal, migrant labour and European Union subsidies … Industry sources say importers can buy cans from 32¢ for lower quality, to 60¢ for premium quality. It then costs between 12¢ and 17¢ a can for shipping.” For myself I always pay the extra for SPC Ardmona tomatoes and beans
We are exactly the same.
The other point as outlined elsewhere is the Italians import significant quantities of ‘cheap’ tomatoes from developing countries…where production or labor regulations may not be up to a standard acceptable in Australia. As one doesn’t know the source of tomatoes from Italy, one in effect could be indirectly supporting these unacceptable practices.
At least if it is Australian grown, we know where it comes from and the regulations/control in place in their production.
Only the Aussie SPC baked beans for me. I cook two crumpets in the frying pan with egg on top once cooked I put on a plate and cover them with SPC baked beans.
Die hard fan off SPC (low salt or regular) baked beans. When unavailable, to my suprise, good ol’Woolies brand baked beans are a good substitute. Always served on toast (usually unbuttered) with a splodge of Worchestire sauce.
