Healthy, affordable meals

by Willie T. Ong, MD

Afew years ago, I dined in a famous Chinese fast-food chain. I ordered their bola-bola congee and the next day, I got this terrible bleeding in my stools. I was down for days and laboratory tests found salmonella in my stomach. I had to take the terribly-tasting Metronidazole tablet for 10 days just to cure it. I listed all the foods I ate and everything could only point to the unusually cold congee in that resto.

That’s why I’m very picky when it comes to food and I only eat in places I trust. And when I’m asked what healthy food places I recommend, my quick answer is, “Our family always buys from Goldilocks Bakeshop.”

Why so? Because for me, there are four criteria of a good food establishment: 1) cleanliness and safety, 2) healthy choices, 3) affordable price, and 4) just the right portion size.

1. Food must be clean. Street food, carinderias, and tap water are simply out of the question, no matter what anyone says. Street food is reeking in bacteria. Believe it. Have you seen the news on how they prepare their foods? And did you know that 70 percent of Filipinos harbor parasites and bacteria in their bodies? If food handlers don’t wash their hands, don’t wear gloves, or don’t use distilled water, these parasites can so easily and so quickly be passed on to you from the delectable and tasty fishball, queck-queck, betamax innards. Tempting but no thanks.

I know many small eateries are only making a living but without the strict certification that food handlers are healthy — that means no typhoid, ascaris or other miniature worms found in their stools — I don’t think we should risk it.

And make no mistake, not all fast-food chains are clean as I’ve painfully learned. Cleanliness and food safety are precisely what I like about Goldilocks Bakeshop. I’ve seen their production warehouse and it’s really clean, dependable, and definitely consumable. In fact, in 2006, Goldilocks Food Processing Plant was awarded the Triple A rating by the Department of Agriculture National Meat Inspection Service.

My favorite snack is their Marble Slice and Butter Slice because they’re heavier and make me fuller. My wife, who is always on a diet she can’t keep, likes the lighter and lower-calorie Chiffon Slice, the usual flavor. But now, there are new wonderful and colorful flavors like Ube Strawberry and Double Dutch. My two daughters Catherine and Anjelica, who are such picky eaters, just love the Fluffy Mamon.

My mom, who has a sensitive stomach like me, prefers the Goldilocks siopao. She says it’s cleaner and less fatty, compared to the siopaos in Chinatown. Ever since her hip replacement a few weeks ago, she’s been buying 10 Goldilocks siopaos every day to feed her many guests and relatives. One siopao per person, with sauce!

2. Food must be healthy. I’m very happy that Goldilocks Bakeshop has a new Go Lite product line of sugar-free, low-calorie, and diabetes-friendly foods. For those overweight or diabetic, the sugar-free ensaymada, walnut brownies, and mamon are a welcome treat.

They have also innovated with a No Added Sugar Choco Butter Cake Slice. Wow! It’s a feast for diabetics, like my brother who would consume anything from diet cokes to diet cakes. As a doctor, I allow my patients to take sugar-free substitutes but always in moderation. And if you want bread, there’s also HealthTinapay, a new product line of zero trans fat and omega-3 fortified breads. Try it.

Regarding baking quality, Sonlie Baking International CEO Tecson H. Alonzo says the brownies from Goldilocks are the best in the country. Being in the baking industry for 28 years now, Alonzo marvels at the expertise it takes to make Goldilocks brownies soft, moist, delectable, and not too oily. Many times imitated but never equaled.

3. Food must be affordable. Hotel foods are clean and healthy, but the prices are off the roof. What I really like about Goldilocks products is the affordable price range. I remember my 44-year-old poor patient (with congenital heart defect) meekly bringing me four pieces of ham ensaymada as a sign of her gratitude. Or the time my richer patients gave me a dozen special mamon. The Bit-bit packs are the perfect gift for rich and poor alike.

I don’t know how they can keep their prices low while maintaining the high quality of their goods. I can only surmise that it has something to do with my Xavier School Batch ’81 classmate Richard Yee, finance director at Goldilocks. Even in high school, I have always known Richard to be a kind, conscientious, and very honest person. Someone you can trust your family with. I’m glad that he has translated this honesty and this Xavier School spirit of helping others in his business, too. And I’m sure his lovely wife Pinky Yee has been instrumental in the healthy food expansion of their company, too.

4. Perfectly-sized fast-food meals. If you’re health-conscious like me, you know that it’s so hard to find a sit-down restaurant where your order is not over 600 calories, fit for a king or reeking in butter. Just one whiff and you know your waistline is in trouble.

And that is why we often eat in Goldilocks’ fast-food outlets. They have affordable and healthy meals like sinigang bangus belly, fish steak, lumpiang ubod, laing, and many other choices. Just in the right portion sizes, too.

And don’t forget their great desserts, which I still remember from my childhood — the filling egg pie, the addicting cathedral window, and the mouthwatering Crema de Fruta cake. Phew, but I’ll pass on the sansrival. Please don’t tempt me.

There are a few other establishments I go to, like Bodhi, Subway, and Oliver’s. But when I think about healthy and affordable food for the whole family, Goldilocks comes first to mind. Maybe it’s because I remember craving their caramel popcorn since I was in Grade 3, when my classmate Richard Yee brought lots of free samples to class.

Goldilocks products are something I can easily and comfortably vouch for. In this time of cost cutting and formalin-laden food products, we should choose carefully what we eat, buy and give to our friends. My family is lucky to have Goldilocks Bakeshop around all these years.

Source: Philippine Star

This entry was posted on Saturday, October 11th, 2008 at 11:23 pm and is filed under Food and Diet, Health Tips. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.