Nature.is

Nature's Market -The Seafood Department

Fish is a beneficial source of protein and vitamins. It also contains Omega-3 fatty acids which prevent disease and strengthen the immune system.

Several certification schemes have been developed to assess and certify sustainable fisheries. Of those the Marine Stewardship Council is by far the most comprehensive and most widely used. Friends of the Sea, the Swedish certification body KRAV and the German certification body Naturland, as well as governments of a few countries, have also to a variable degree developed schemes for assessing sustainability of wild capture fisheries.

The Icelandic Vottunarstofan Tún is accredited by the German ASI for MSC Chain of Custody and fisheries certification. Tún has already certified several Icelandic and American fish processing and sales companies against the MSC Chain of Custody Standard.  Tún has also certified the first Icelandic fisheries against the MSC Principles and Criteria for Sustainable Fishing. The certified group, headed by the exporting company Sæmark Seafood Ltd.,  manage These are Atlantic Cod and Haddock handline, longline and Danish seine fisheries off the coast of Iceland.

Standards for sustainable fishing take several factors into account. The MSC standards assume assessment of three basic principles, i.e. the sustainability of the target fishstock, the environmental impact of the fishery (incl. fishing gear, bycatch and potential catch of endangered or threatened species) and the fishery management system.  Is is possible to argue that handline and longline fisheries (in which the fish “opts” to be caught) are more environmentally friendly than fishing by ordinary nets and/or trawlers. Accounting for use of energy is variable by standards.
Generally speaking it is assumed that one liter of fuel is required for each kg of fish caught. From a energy saving standpoint, in modern fishing more energy is being used to collect a smaller amount of fish.

Unfortunately, lipophilic, organically persistent, chemicals like PCB, have the somewhat disturbing habit of migrating from warm latitudes to colder latitudes. That’s why those chemicals bioaccumulate more easily in organisms at northern latitudes than in the tropics. Usually chemicals that bioaccumulate have little impact at the lowest step of the food chain. However, as we go higher up in the food chain, the chemicals accumulate and their impact increases. This is the reason why polar bears and killer whales have relatively high levels of chemicals like PCB in their bodies. People, like polar bears and whales, sit at the top of the food chain and can thus be vulnerable.
Supervision of the safety of seafood sold in Iceland is in the hands of the Icelandic Food and Veterinary Authority.

The Seafood department of Nature' Market offers no fresh seafood so far but we offer various kinds of Omega-3 and fishoil, all local Icelandic quality products. Nature's Market is open for everyone who wishes to sell their products given they comply with the standard of Nature's Market.

View the Seafood department.

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Heilsutengd matvæli og markfæði - vöruþróun, framleiðsla, rannsóknir og markaðssetning

Matvæladagur MNÍ árið 2011 verður haldinn þann 18. október nk á Hilton Reykjavík Nordica Hóteli.

Yfirskrift Matvæladagsins að þessu sinni er Heilsutengd matvæli og markfæði, Íslensk vöruþróun, þar sem fjallað verður meðal annars um íslenska vöruþróun, framleiðslu, rannsóknir og markaðssetningu.:

Dagskrá

10:30 – 12:00  Uppsetning veggspjalda & kynningarbása       
11:15 – 12:00  Afhending ráðstefnugagna       
12:00 – 12:30  Ávarp formanns MNÍ - Herdís Maríanne Guðjónsdóttir, Formaður MNÍ. - Setning  & kynning á efni dagsins
Ávarp iðnaðarráðherra, Katrín Júlíusdóttir, Iðnaðarráðherra.   
Afhending Fjöreggsins, Orri Hauksson, framkvæmdastjóri Samtaka Iðnaðarins.

Vöruþróun
12:30 -  12:50  Ævintýramarkaðssetning; ull – fiskur - fæðubótarefni - Þráinn Þorvaldsson, framkvæmdastjóri SagaMedica.   
12:50 – 13:05  Byggi, íslenskt morgunkorn - frá akri til morgunverðar - Arnar Snær Rafnsson, gæðastjóri, Árla. Friðrik Arelíusson, framkvæmdastjóri, Árla.   
13:05 – 13:25  Brauðbakstur úr íslensku hráefni, Iðunn Geirsdóttir, matvælafræðingur, Myllan. Ólafur  Eggertsson, bóndi, Þorvaldseyri.   
13:25 – 13:40  Íslensk sköpun – lífræn hollusta - Eymundur Magnússon, búfræðingur, Móðir Jörð, Vallanesi. Eygló Björk Ólafsdóttir, viðskiptafræðingur, Móðir Jörð, Vallanesi.
13:40 – 13:55  Hleðsla, íslenskur próteindrykkur - Kristín Halldórsdóttir, gæðastjóri, Mjólkursamsalan Akureyri.   
13:55 – 14:10  Hámark, íslenskur próteindrykkur - Pétur Helgason, matvælafræðingur, Vífilfell   
14:10 – 14:15  Kynning: Norræna Næringarfræðiráðstefnan 2012 - Guðrún Kristín Sigurgeirsdóttir, Matvæla- og næringarfræðingur verkefnastjóri Rannsóknarstofu í næringarfræði.

14:15 – 14:40  Kaffihlé    Veggspjalda- og vörukynningar

14:40 – 15:05  Fagur fiskur í sjó, umfjöllun um þættina & áhrif þeirra - Sveinn Kjartansson, matreiðslumaður, Fylgifiskar. Gunnþórunn Einarsdóttir, sérfræðingur, nýsköpun & neytendur, Matís. 
15:05 – 15:20  Fisksósur, lítið nýtt lúxus hráefni - Ómar Bogason, verkefnisstjóri, Brimberg. Arnljótur Bjarki Bergsson, sviðsstjóri, Matís
15:20 – 15:35  Þörungar, þang & heilsa - Rósa Jónsdóttir, fagstjóri á líftækni og lífefnasviði Matís. Þóra Valsdóttir, verkefnastjóri á nýsköpunar og neytendasviði Matís. Hörður G. Kristinsson, rannsóknarstjóri, Matís.
15:35 – 15:50  Lýsi; aldagömul lífsnauðsyn - Árni Geir Jónsson, sölustjóri, Lýsi Hf. Adolf Ólason, markaðsstjóri, Lýsi Hf.
15:50 – 16:05  Prófitt, íslensk lína fæðubótarefna - Björn Jónsson, framkvæmdastjóri, Katla.
16:05 – 16:20  Samantekt, fyrri hluti - Sveinn Margeirsson, fundarstjóri.
16:20 – 16:25  Kynning: eHap, Heilsuvitund og  Framgangur verkefnis & næstu skref - HeleGray, næringarrekstrarfræðingur, forstöðum. starfsmenntad. Iðunnar.

16:25 – 16:50    Kaffihlé - Veggspjalda- og vörukynningar.

Rannsóknir og fræðsla
16:50 – 17:10  Merkingar á umbúðum matvæla    Zulema Sullca Porta, sérfræðingur, MAST. Næringar- & heilsufullyrðingar.          
17:10 – 17:25 Þarf að D-vítamínbæta íslensk matvæli? - Laufey Steingrímsdóttir, Prófessor í næringarfræði, HÍ.
17:25 – 17:40 D-vítamín, ráðlagðar skammtastærðir - Guðbjörg Kristín Ludvigsdóttir, læknir, Landspítali.
17:40 – 18:00 Samantekt, seinni hluti, umræður & ráðstefnuslit - Sveinn Margeirsson, fundarstjóri.

Fundarstjóri: Sveinn Margeirsson, Ph.D. forstjóri Matís
Þátttökugjald: Fyrir 14. október, 4.500 kr, eftir það og á staðnum 5.500 kr. 3.000 kr fyrir nemendur.

Nánari upplýsingar veitir Fríða Rún Þórðardóttir, 898 8798 frida@isport.is.

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Nature's Market - The Meat Products Department

To eat only a little meat is one of the most environmentally friendly things you can do. Animals require an enormous amount of water, hay, grain and not least of all, land to produce each kg of meat.

Icelandic meat, however, is better in most respects than European meat. The Icelandic mountain lamb runs free in the Icelandic highlands and can therefore be said to be environmentally friendly in a certain way, even though overgrazing by sheep has undoubtedly contributed to desertification through the ages.

When analysing meat, it is often possible to find residues of hormones, medicines and chemicals that have been used in the production of the product. Organic production of meat does not use such hormones/chemicals nor does it use synthetic fertilizers on land where feed is grown, and last but not least in organic farming it is not allowed to use medicines for the prevention of animal diseases. This means that medicines are only used to cure sick animals and not in order to prevent all sorts of possible illnesses. Overuse of pharmaceuticals for example the use of antibiotics and vaccines  has become a considerable problem in meat production both for animals and for people as more and more microorganisms become immune to the pharmaceuticals as we and they continue ingesting them.

The Icelandic Food and Veterinary Authority supervises general animal health and the safety of domestic and imported meat sold in Iceland.

Read all about how to shop at the Nature's Market.

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Nature's Market - The Grocery Department

In the grocery department you will find all general food items and all the products at Nature.is which are for human consumption. In this section we work hard to provide accurate information about ingredients, production, and environmental labeling and we do it in a very detailed manner. A general rule is that all the information on the packaging is in a very comprehendable form regarding the product composition and the preservatives or other additives such as flavors. E-numbers are often used in order to identify additives. The purpose is both to simplify the description of the ingredients and to enable consumers to avoid certain chemicals such as allergens.

Nature's Grocery Department offers a broad spectrum of organic, fairtrade, natural and eco-labelled groceries. Nature's Market is open for everyone who wishes to sell their products given they comply with the standard of the Nature-market.

View the Grocery department.

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Nature's Market - The Coffee, Tea and Spices department

Coffee, tea and spices are dried products of many different plants. As with living plants, it is important that they are grown in a clean and healthy environment in order to safeguard quality. Also important for quality is how the plants are dried, stored and packaged. Organic certification or environmental certification concerns the whole process from production to packaging and ensures that nowhere in the process have harmful chemicals been used while guaranteeing that quality is in accordance with the strictest standards. Sometimes preservatives or even MSG is added to the spices in order to increase flavour and to lengthen shelf life. Therefore it is important for the consumer to carefully read the ingredients. In this section, all information provided on the packaging is listed and certifications are especially mentioned. Coffee is produced by burning the beans of the coffee plant. The growing of the coffee plant can be with or without synthetic chemicals i.e. fertilizer and toxins. By buying organically grown coffee it is possible to ensure that neither the body or the environment is being polluted.

Fair trade emcompasses both tea and coffee production and ensures that the workers are fairly treated and payed. View the Coffee, Tea and Spices department.

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