EDEN Organic Garbanzo Beans are expertly prepared at our certified organic kosher cannery in east central Indiana. Beans are washed, soaked overnight and thoroughly cooked with water and a bit of kombu sea vegetable. You don't taste the kombu, but its natural glutamic acid softens and enhances the flavor of beans. All water that contacts EDEN beans, for washing, soaking, and cooking, is purified water.

Garbanzo Beans Cicer arietinum, also known as 'chick peas', are plump, round, golden beans that are widely considered the ideal salad bean. EDEN Organic Garbanzo Beans are also great in soups, stews, salads, casseroles, curries, and in grain burgers and croquettes. They are a must for making hummus, blended with tahini (sesame butter), garlic, and lemon. Search under Cannellini Beans in our free recipe section for this and other tasty recipes.

EDEN Organic Beans are packed in steel cans coated with a baked on oleoresinous c-enamel that does not contain the endocrine disrupter chemical, bisphenol-A (BPA). Oleoresin is a natural mixture of an oil and a resin extracted from various plants, such as pine or balsam fir. These cans cost 14% more than the industry standard cans that do contain BPA. The can maker, Ball Corporation, tells us that Eden is the only U.S. food maker to date to use these BPA free cans and we have been since April 1999.

For the third time in 2004 EDEN Organic Beans received the highest rating for flavor and nourishment in exhaustive comparison studies of canned beans by the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) in their Nutrition Action Healthletter. EDEN Organic Refried Beans were named 'Best Buy' and number one for nutrition among 38 brands with salt added. In 2004 EDEN beans were rated as favorites by Men's Health and Child Magazine. In the June 2006 article "125 Best Foods for Men," Men's Health again rated EDEN Beans as the best beans for having great flavor, being heart healthy, promoting weight loss and offering "The highest fiber with the least amount of sodium" among all other brands.

According to the FDA, "Low fat diets rich in fruits and vegetables (foods that are low in fat and may contain dietary fiber, Vitamin A, or Vitamin C) may reduce the risk of some types of cancer, a disease associated with many factors," and "Diets low in sodium may reduce the risk of high blood pressure, a disease associated with many factors." EDEN Organic Garbanzo Beans are low fat, an excellent source of dietary fiber and folate (vitamin B9), and very low in sodium with no salt added. They are also a good source of protein, magnesium, and copper.

Studies show beans contain a wealth of antioxidants similar to those in fruits and berries. "Beans are really loaded with antioxidant compounds," said Clifford Beninger, Ph.D., an environmental biologist and former researcher for the USDA's Bean Research Unit. "We didn't know how potent they were until now." Researchers tested the antioxidant activity of flavonoids found in 12 common varieties of dry beans. They found one class of compounds in particular, anthocyanins, were the most active antioxidants in beans. These findings add antioxidant activity to a growing list of healthy compounds found in beans and legumes. The study was published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry.

"Beans are probably the best human plant food there is," plant geneticist George L. Hosfield, Ph.D., told Reuters Health. He explained that beans are full of protein and fiber and low in fat. They also contain important vitamins and minerals such as folic acid, iron, potassium, and zinc. "With the additional bonus of their antioxidants, you have almost the perfect food," he said.

Beans are loaded with soluble fiber that helps to lower blood cholesterol levels. Beans are also an important source of two essential amino acids not found in cereals, lysine and threonine. In turn, whole grains complement beans and together deliver complete protein. Enjoying a variety of beans in combination with whole grain is a good step toward healthy living.