Crown Prince is concerned about the issue of BPA (Bisphenol A) in cans and we have transitioned many of our products already to BPA-Free packaging. But did you know that BPA can also be used in the lining material of bottle lids as well? We are pleased to inform our customers that our products packed in glass bottles have BPA-Free lids!
Our Clam Juice is imported from Holland. This pantry staple is sourced from clam beds managed for sustainable harvests in the clear waters of Holland’s Waddenzee (Wadden Sea.)
While the FDA maintains that BPA does not pose a health risk, Crown Prince Seafood is dedicated to providing the safest, modestly priced, quality canned seafood. We will seek to transition all of our products to BPA-Free as the correct packing materials become available.
Keep Your Skin Healthy While Enjoying the Summer Sun
As the weather warms up we find ourselves spending more time outside. Taking care of your skin is essential, especially in the summertime.
Skin is the body’s largest organ, a waterproof shield providing the first line of defense against foreign substances as well as protecting the body from trauma. Covering about 3,000 square inches, your skin helps regulate body temperature and manufactures bone-strengthening vitamin D, produced through exposure to ultraviolet (UV) rays.
Protecting your skin
Your body only needs about 10 minutes of daily sun exposure (without sunscreen) to produce vitamin D. If you are going to spend more than a few minutes outside, sunscreen should be used to avoid sunburn and reduce your risk of skin cancer. Protect your skin from those harmful UV rays even on cloudy days.
- Sunscreen should be water resistant and SPF-15 or higher
- Use a lip balm or lipstick with SPF-15 protection
- Wear a hat with a wide brim to protect your face and ears
- Choose sunglasses that provide UV 400 protection
Treating a sunburn
As soon as you feel that tingling burn or notice your skin turning pink, get out of the sun! It can take hours for all of the symptoms to develop. Try these techniques to reduce skin redness and pain:
- Take an over-the-counter pain reliever, such as ibuprofen to reduce swelling and redness
- Apply a cold compress to your skin
- Take a cool bath or gentle shower and moisturize to make peeling less noticeable
- Apply aloe vera or cortisone cream to soothe skin
- Drink plenty of water to avoid dehydration
Getting a sunburn causes long lasting damage, especially in children. In fact, just one bad burn as a child can double their lifetime risk of skin cancer. Seek medical attention if blistering or fever occurs.
Saturday June 8 is World Oceans Day
World Oceans Day is an annual global celebration to honor the body of water that connects us all. Unless you live on a coast, it’s probably not something you give much thought to. Yet the ocean is the earth’s lungs, providing the majority of our oxygen. It covers 70% of the earth’s surface, allows trade routes between continents, provides us food, and supports essential global biodiversity.
This event has been coordinated and promoted by The Ocean Project and The World Ocean Network since 2002. People are encouraged to actively appreciate the ocean and all it provides, and to cultivate greater awareness of the connection between individual choices and oceanic consequences.
Get Involved!
- Find a World Oceans Day event near you
- Plan your own event
- Make a promise! Pledge to help the ocean and share a photo
- Spread the word: follow World Oceans Day on Facebook and share their posts with family and friends
- Watch this excellent video of dolphins celebrating World Oceans Day
As a third-generation seafood company, the health of our business depends on the health of our oceans; sustainability has long been a major priority for Crown Prince. We recognize that the health of future generations depends on it, too. Both personally and professionally, we encourage you and your family to observe World Oceans Day.
Healthy Weight: Small Changes Really Add Up
We know what you’re thinking. “Summer is just 6 weeks away. I need to get in shape!” With New Year’s Resolutions long forgotten, most of us are in shape (if round counts as a shape, that is.) Obesity is a national epidemic that millions of Americans are facing today. With 68% of adults (and one out of every three children) in the U.S. overweight or obese, it’s no wonder that combating obesity is a leading concern across the nation.
Healthy Weight Commitment Foundation
The HWCF, or Healthy Weight Commitment Foundation, is a CEO-led effort made up of more than 200 organizations and is designed to help reduce obesity, with a focus on childhood obesity, by 2015.
Eating a healthy, balanced diet and increasing physical activity are two key points of the HWCF goals. The Foundation promotes programs and activities that are designed to help people achieve and keep a normal, healthy weight.
The Together Counts™ campaign promotes the advantages of family meals and physical activity.
Crown Prince Involvement
Inspired by the HWCF, we began hosting a “Lunch & Learn” where employees would gather to enjoy a healthy lunch, while getting an education on wellness and improved quality of life.
In September 2011, we formed a “Walk-a-Mile” club to encourage each other to get moving. Whether taking a short walk outside during break time, or hitting the gym after work, every mile counts. We have since logged nearly 5,000 miles!
Small Changes Really Add Up
Making huge lifestyle changes can seem like a daunting task. Start with small changes and team up with friends or family. Studies show that having support provides the motivation to keep going strong!
- Park & Walk: Try to park farther from your destination and get in a few extra steps.
- Drink More Water: Can’t seem to eliminate soda and other sugary drinks? Start by swapping out just one soda per day.
- Skip Dessert: Many of us crave sweets after a meal. Have a piece of fresh fruit instead. If you still can’t get rid of that sweet tooth, opt for a small piece of dark chocolate.
Tell us what strategies have worked for you. Now let’s get moving!
Honoring World Tuna Day: Polynesian Fish Hook History
In honor of the citizens of the eight Pacific Islands who declared May 2nd World Tuna Day, we wanted to take time to explore how a utilitarian tool like the fish hook took on beauty and meaning within the Polynesian culture. The Parties to the Nauru Agreement (Papua New Guinea, Federated States of Micronesia, Marshall Islands, Tuvalu, Kiribati, Nauru, Palau, and the Solomon Islands) all have Polynesian heritage sharing technologies and design over thousands of ocean miles. From Hawaii through the Pacific Islands to New Zealand one can see evidence of the shared history of the vital fish hook.
Hawaiian Makau
Known in Hawaiian as the makau, the fish hook represents strength, prosperity and respect for the sea. In the early days of Polynesian settlement in Hawaii, fishermen created fish hooks out of every available material they could find. Using tools and files made from coral and stone, they chipped and carved fish hooks out of whale and human bones, shells, wood, and even from the teeth of dogs.
Ancient Hawaiians believed that a makau necklace made of bone was a spiritual link to their ancestors. A carving worn by family members over many generations is a meaningful heirloom.
Manaiakalani, the magical fish hook of Maui
Stories of creation narrate that Maui, the Hawaiian demigod, created the Hawaiian chain of islands by dragging his fish hook on the ocean floor. He convinced his unsuspecting brothers in the canoe to paddle furiously by fooling them that he had caught a great fish. With their efforts, Maui’s high mighty fish hook, called Manaiakalani, dragged the land mass out of the ocean and the Hawaiian Islands were born.
Nowadays, the fish hook necklace is made of several different types of material such as koa wood, mother of pearl, fossil bone or in some cases, from ancient mammoth ivory and shark teeth. The modern-day fish hook is strictly ornamental but the meaning behind the Hawaiian fish hook necklace is still relevant.
Contemporary makau jewelry
Contemporary Hawaiian jewelry artists who create fish hook jewelry and pendants usually make two styles. A simple hook is one made from a single material be it wood or bone. A composite hook is constructed from two types of material such as wood and bone. By varying the positioning of the barb along the hook, artists come up with different creative looks.
Even in modern-day jewelry, some Hawaiian artists have taken pains to use old Polynesian techniques in tribute to the meaning behind the Hawaiian fish hook necklace. Some use natural fibers such as sennet from the coconut or fiber from the olona plant which was deemed so strong that it was used as rigging on sailing ships. Another natural fiber used comes from the hau plant, the yellow hibiscus which is endemic to Hawaii. The fiber is so strong that it was commonly used to make fishing nets.
Fish hooks and octopus lure illustration from “Hawai‘i: A Pictorial History” By Joseph Feher, Bishop Museum Press, Honolulu, 1969.
The importance of knotting
By observing the care taken by the ancient Polynesians to securely lash the fish hooks, we start to understand the meaning behind the Hawaiian fish hook necklace. In the ancient culture, a knot was deemed a sacred binding between man and the gods. In the importance they paid to knotting and cording, the Hawaiians were similar to other ancient cultures. The Incans for example used knots to store information.
Although this was not much used by the Hawaiians, their Polynesian cousins in New Zealand, the Maori, would carve images of gods onto the shaft of the makau. This practice has been adopted by contemporary Hawaiian artists to make “tiki makau”. Images of benevolent gods such as Lono, the Hawaiian god of peace and prosperity, are popularly carved onto Hawaiian fish hook pendants.
Recent news is that AquaBounty’s AquAdvantage transgenic salmon is on track to be approved by the FDA for sale in America. If approved, this fish could start appearing on your plate in the next couple of years.
The DNA of the larger fish has been genetically engineered to produce growth hormones for its entire life. People who eat this fish will be eating this DNA, along with the growth hormones.
AquaBounty’s website states that their genetically engineered salmon:
- Is identical to Atlantic salmon, apart from a gene from Chinook salmon
- Will be grown as sterile, all-female populations in land-based facilities
- Will reduce environmental impact on coastal areas and eliminate the threat of disease transfer from farms to wild fish due to being grown in land-based facilities.
- Will grow more fish with less feed.
However, the Environmental Assessment on AquAdvantage salmon done by AquaBounty and presented to the FDA on April 25, 2010 could create a different picture.
- AquAdvantage’s “founder animal” was created by “inserting a coding sequence from a Chinook salmon growth hormone under the control of regulatory sequences from an ocean pout antifreeze protein gene into a wild Atlantic salmon.” Furthermore, “AquAdvantage Salmon…are females …that have been phenotypically sex-reversed for breeding purposes. These so-called neomales are crossed with non-transgenic female Atlantic salmon to produce eggs ….that are pressure-shocked to induce triploidy, which renders the fish sterile.”
- AquAdvantage eggs will be produced at a specific site on Prince Edward Island, Canada and flown to a specific site in Panama for grow out and processing before being sent to the US for sale.
- AquaBounty’s Environmental Assessment pre-supposes that they will always be in charge of the production and raising of their GE (Genetically Engineered) salmon. The feed to be used and its ingredients are not specified.
Consumers should be asking the following:
- What are the long term effects of AquAdvantage salmon on humans who consume it?
- Are there any residual effects from the antibiotics used to keep the fish disease free while kept in close proximity?
- Does genetically engineered fish really relieve stress on wild salmon stocks?
- Does GE aquaculture fish truly offer a smaller carbon footprint compared to conventional aquaculture?
- Can AquaBounty guarantee that any future owner or lessee of their technology will abide by their production standards?
- Does it taste any good?
- Is the nutritional value the same? (Omega-3 content, vitamins and minerals)
- How much will it cost?
- What country of origin will be listed?
- At the fresh seafood counter, how will the fish be identified? What species?
What is the real distinction here? We think that it is the inherently unique quality and taste that comes from a truly wild fish – a salmon that has lived out the course of its life feeding and living in its natural habitat – the open ocean. A GE aquaculture salmon presents the same issues and problems that have appeared in conventionally grown animal protein – with one addition. Under current U.S. law it will not be labeled as Genetically Engineered. Over the decades American consumers have sought to know what is in their food, where it comes from and how it was created. There should be no exception made for GE foods.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration comment period for the draft Environmental Assessment (EA) and preliminary Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) pertaining to AquaBounty Technologies’ application for AquAdvantage Salmon is open until April 26, 2013. If you have any concerns, please follow this link and let the FDA know. http://www.regulations.gov/#!submitComment;D=FDA-2011-N-0899-0685
May 2, 2013 marks the second annual International World Tuna Day. In 2011, the Ministers of the Parties to the Naura Agreement (PNA), a group of eight Pacific Island Countries who harvest tuna from local waters, launched this global initiative. Designed to celebrate and draw attention to this valuable resource, this event seeks to bring increased awareness to the fact that sustainable fishing practices are vital to the future of wild caught tuna. In the canned seafood business for 65 years, Crown Prince recognizes the critical role that healthy fish stocks play in the ecosystem as well as our livelihoods. We want future generations to be able to enjoy an abundance and variety of fish. We feel that this is essential to a healthy diet and a healthy ecosystem.
To celebrate this day Crown Prince will be sponsoring a tuna sweepstakes. Starting on March 13 we will be accepting entry forms via our website that will be entered into weekly drawings for free cases of tuna. The first drawing will be on April 1 and will continue until World Tuna Day on May 2, 2013. All entries that are not selected will remain in the drawing throughout the sweepstakes. We will send a $1.00 coupon to all those who enter the sweepstakes.
Drawing Dates:
- Monday April 01, 2013 (1 winner)
- Thursday April 04, 2013 (1 winner)
- Monday April 08, 2013 (1 winner)
- Thursday April 11, 2013 (1 winner)
- Monday April 15, 2013 (1 winner)
- Thursday April 18, 2013 (1 winner)
- Monday April 22, 2013 (1 winner)
- Thursday April 25, 2013 (1 winner)
- Monday April 29, 2013 (1 winner)
- Thursday May 02, 2013 (3 winners)
Please visit our website for more information. We hope you will join us in the celebration!
Crown Prince Seafood Participates in MDA Muscle Walk
On Saturday March 2, 2013 the Crown Prince staff will be participating in the Greater Orange County/Inland Empire Muscle Walk – a fundraising event through the Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA). Funding from the walk supports Muscular Dystrophy Association’s research, support service, and education initiatives.
About Our Team
Our team is a combined team: Crown Prince Seafood staff, Adam’s Ducks and the EC Riders (Greater Orange County/Inland Empire Chapter of MDA Executive Committee [EC])
Our employees, family and friends had such an amazing time last year that we decided to band together once again to try and raise even more money. We chose MDA because of all the tremendous things they do for the families they serve. We hope you’ll do the same and join our team!
How we got involved
Denise Hines, Marketing Manager for Crown Prince and President of the EC chapter we are walking with, shares how we as a company came to be involved with MDA:
“My older brother Paul had Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy so I have been involved all my life. This year will mark the 8th year since his passing. My first event with the MDA was in 2003 when I participated in a Lock-Up event and had to raise my bail money to get out.
Over the years, many of the Crown Prince employees have participated with me in other events such as golf tournaments, Muscle Walks, and Fill the Boot with local fire fighters. The last 3 years Crown Prince has had almost 100% participation in the walk. Employees either walked or donated to the walkers in support.”
This year we are joining forces with our dear friends from Adam’s Ducks. This team was formed in late 2010 by Adam Bohanon-Mullett. Adam is a 12 year old from the High Desert who has a Myoadenylate Deaminase Deficiency (MADD), a form of Muscular Dystrophy. Adam decided he wanted to find a cure and has become active in fundraising for MDA. In January 2011 he was named the Inland Empire’s Goodwill Ambassador. Since Adam’s diagnosis 3 years ago, his two sisters Tommie and Aggie have also been diagnosed with MADD. This is an incredibly strong family that instead of asking why, dedicated themselves even more to finding a cure and bringing about greater awareness to MADD and Muscular Dystrophy as a whole. We are honored to be walking side by side with such an inspiring family.
Please consider adding your support by visiting our team fundraising page. Donations made on the site are submitted securely.
Or, to participate as a walker in your own city, visit walk.mda.org to find an event near you.
Keeping Your Heart Healthy
February is American Heart Month. Did you know that heart disease is the number one cause of death and illness among men and women in the United States? And that’s not all: Heart disease kills more women than all cancers combined!
What is Heart Disease?
Heart disease occurs when plaque builds up on the walls of the arteries to the heart. The arteries become narrow and blood flow to the heart is restricted. Many factors contribute to heart disease including age, gender, family history, smoking and obesity. The good news is a healthy diet and exercise can decrease your risk.
Know the Signs of a Heart Attack
The most common symptom of a heart attack is chest pain or discomfort. The level of pain can vary from mild to severe, and may feel like squeezing or heavy pressure, or even indigestion. Other symptoms can include anxiety, shortness of breath, dizziness, nausea or sweating.
If you have symptoms of a heart attack, call 911 immediately. Don’t wait! Getting help right away is crucial to reduce your risk of sudden death.
Prevention
Though you can’t control some risk factors (such as age, gender or family history) there are plenty of steps you can take to avoid heart problems in the future.
- Don’t smoke or use tobacco: Smoking damages your heart and blood vessels. As your arteries narrow, your heart rate and blood pressure increases, forcing your heart to work harder to supply enough oxygen. Women who smoke and take birth control pills are at an even greater risk of heart attack or stroke.
- Exercise regularly: Physical activity helps control your weight and can also reduce stress. Try to get 30 minutes of exercise each day. Too busy? Studies show that even 10-minute sessions offer heart benefits, so get moving!
- Eat a heart-healthy diet: Eat foods that are low in fat, cholesterol and salt. Look for low-fat sources of protein, such as fish that contain heart-healthy omega-3 fatty acids. Add more fresh fruits and vegetables to your diet, and include whole grains and low-fat dairy products.
- Maintain a healthy weight: Excess weight can lead to high blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetes, which increases your chances of heart disease. Measuring your waist circumference is a good way to tell if you are carrying extra abdominal fat, which puts you at greater risk for diabetes. Men are at risk if their waist measurement is greater than 40 inches. Women are at risk if their waist is greater than 35 inches.
Make healthy choices a lifestyle and inspire others to do the same. Your heart will thank you!
In 2011, the Crown Prince team began participating in a recycling program through TerraCycle.com, which accepts hard to recycle items and makes “being green” a little easier. For every item sent in to be recycled, TerraCycle will either pay 2 cents, or offer 2 points that can be redeemed at a later time. (Each point is worth a penny.) We chose the points program, and have been using our points for charity donations.
Clean Water for Developing Nations
Not only are we helping to save the environment by recycling, we’re giving back to the environment by sending our proceeds to charity: water. They are a non-profit organization that brings safe drinking water to people living in developing nations, mainly located in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia.
For just 6 points we can provide clean water to one person for a week! (300 points redeemed will provide clean water to one person for one year.) Here’s what we have been recycling:
- Tape: disposable plastic tape dispensers and the center plastic core of tape rolls
- Writing Instruments: any used writing instruments such as pens, pencils, highlighters and markers
- Inkjet Cartridges: any used inkjet cartridge (ink cartridges are worth 25 points!)
- Personal Care and Beauty Product Packaging: including cosmetic containers, shampoo and conditioner bottles, body wash containers, soap and lotion dispensers, and nail polish bottles
- Oral Care: toothpaste tubes, toothbrushes and plastic toothbrush packaging
- Dairy Tubs: plastic tubs and lids for dairy items such as yogurt, sour cream or margarine, foil tops and plastic seals
- Cheese Packaging: plastic or foil wrappers from individual cheese slices and outer flexible packaging from shredded or block cheese
In 2011 we recycled 1,817 items. We are so excited to announce that for 2012 we recycled 4,091 items and provided:
- 24 people with clean drinking water for a year
- 271 people with clean drinking water for a week
With almost one billion people on our planet lacking access to clean drinking water, we’re hoping to help make a difference. You can too – just visit TerraCycle.com and start recycling today!
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