emergency

Keto Chow and COVID-19

We all understand that for many people, Keto Chow plays a significant role in their success on a ketogenic diet and is particularly vital in stressful times like this. Several customers of ours are nurses and doctors that really have no time for any other food right now and we are humbled to play a small part in helping them. We wanted to give everyone an update on how COVID-19 is impacting Keto Chow, so here you go! =)

Your ability to get Keto Chow

For many people, their primary concern is: “hey, can I still get my Keto Chow?” Currently, the answer to that is a resounding “Yes!” We have ample inventory of Keto Chow on-hand at our Draper Utah warehouse, with a good supply also dispatched out to Amazon fulfillment centers (and “grocery food” like Keto Chow is currently prioritized going into Amazon’s warehouses). Although you can buy Keto Chow on Amazon, it is far less expensive to get directly from us which also gives you the bulk discounts, loyalty program and other benefits that are not available on purchases through Amazon. We actually have enough inventory on-hand to last for several months even with a complete shutdown of our upstream production and we JUST got a new shipment of Chocolate, our most popular flavor. We’re doing exceptionally well in this regard.

Both carriers that we use (UPS and USPS) have indicated that they are still moving packages and are doing a great job handling the increased number of shipments. I haven’t seen statistics but I’m guessing it’s a lighter load than the week before Christmas.

We have an amazing team of people that are working at our Draper warehouse, shipping the orders, handling local customers that are picking up orders, and generally being awesome. The members of the Keto Chow team that can work outside the office are doing so to limit the exposure. If you call about an order or send us an email, we can help you out wherever we are.

Keto Chow – shelf stability, how long does it last?

As noted in a recent blog post, the shelf life of unopened Keto Chow is 2 years with no detectable change to the flavor or nutrition. Each package has a “best by” date printed on the package that lets you know how long it will last. We work hard to maximize the shelf life and cycle through the oldest product out first. The “Flavor of the week” program aids in this. If you have Keto Chow that’s past the “best by” date, you are still unlikely to notice any change; the main issue you might see is a slow degradation of certain vitamins that would make it unsuitable for ALL of your food for an extended period of time. In other words: don’t use ‘expired’ Keto Chow for 3 meals a day for weeks or months at a time with no other food; but using ‘expired’ Keto Chow for 1 or 2 meals a day is something that I have done in the past and will do in the future.

Mixing Keto Chow in difficult circumstances

By far, the easiest way to mix up Keto Chow is with heavy cream. It requires a simple shaker bottle and little else. Heavy cream is also somewhat readily available right now. Based on my own observations, it’s been difficult to find many everyday essentials but heavy cream has been in-stock at every grocery store I’ve been to this week.

Butter is more work to mix, but stores longer, is less expensive, has fewer carbs, and is delicious. I highly suggest you give it a shot if you can find butter. Personally, I use the cheapest salted (or unsalted but I like the salt) butter I can find. I don’t worry about grass-fed or anything else – you’re welcome to use that if you like the flavor more, but I haven’t seen compelling evidence of any metabolic advantage to grass-fed butter. You can also use the same method as butter to use other “hard” fats like coconut oil.

Avocado oil is a good choice if you have no access at all to refrigeration, I have a great write-up on my own experience using it while camping. Avocado oil is very shelf-stable and the sort of thing you could put in your basement with a bag of Keto Chow and rest assured that with some water, you’re set for days!

Powdered cream is also an option if you account for the particular issues it brings along: it’s shelf-stable but also costs more, is bulkier, has more carbs, and does not taste as good as liquid heavy cream.

Could I be infected by COVID-19 via a package?

The short answer is “probably not.” A NIH study found that the SARS-CoV-2 virus survives up to 24 hours on cardboard, which is shorter than the 2-3 days a typical package we ship takes. UPS simply says on their COVID-19 page that “The World Health Organization (WHO) and U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have stated that the likelihood of novel Coronavirus contaminating cardboard or other shipping containers is low.”

Results of accelerated 2 year shelf life testing (passed)

Several months ago, the place that packages our samples (and puts a “best before” date on the packages) asked us to get them a report to corroborate the 2-year shelf life claim. So I did. The results came back today. It was conducted as an accelerated test with high humidity and temperature. They checked for changes in the water activity, moisture; total bacteria, yeast, and mold populations. They also did an organoleptic to check that the color, texture, odor, and taste were unaffected – as a powder and mixed with water.

The short version is: they agree that a claim of a 2-year shelf life is acceptable for the product.

So what does that mean for you? The date we have stamped on the packages should represent the date it should last until with no discernable change in taste – and it’ll likely be absolutely fine even MUCH longer than that. The packaging we are using has an extremely good oxygen barrier and likely lasts a REALLY long time before you’re going to see any degradation in the flavor or the protein. You will, however, see degradation in many of the vitamins once you get really far out past the “best by” date. If you intend to use Keto Chow for ALL of your meals for several weeks, I would not recommend using “expired” product. If you’re using it once or twice a day, you are unlikely to experience adverse effects or deficiencies.

Planning on stocking up on some non-perishable food? Along with many of the suggestions you’ll find in a recent blog post by Dr. Adam Nally, he says:

… this has been a wonderful and needed addition to our food storage. Simply adding water, avocado oil, butter or cream to the KetoChow powder creates and instant, and very healthy ketogenic meal

Apparently, you should also take up bow hunting.

Discussion: The water activities of the products are so low that they do not support the growth of microorganisms. However, the products are not sterile as some bacterial populations existed, possibly spore formers. For item 1, microbiological populations hovered around detection limits (100 CFU/g) for the course of the study with 1 container having a higher load (2,800 CFU/g on day 597). For item 2, microbiological populations mostly remained below detection limits. No yeast or molds were detected in either product. Overall, the data shows that microbiological populations are extremely low, and the products do not support the growth of microorganisms. The client states that the product should be refrigerated after mixing with water. [the testing lab] agrees with this precaution since the product would be capable of supporting microbiological growth after being added to water. Interestingly, moisture levels increased somewhat in both products [over the course of the test]. Water activity values fell slightly. There were no detectable declines of organoleptic quality observed over the course of the study. [the testing lab] feels the product remained unchanged over the course of the sutyd[sic].

*Recommended Shelf Life: Based upon the analytical and organoleptic data obtained over the course of this shelf life study, it is the opinion of [the testing lab] that a shelf life of 2 years is attainable and acceptable for the product analyzed herein.