Our Products

How do I store my CORE Meals?

The perishability of our products depends on how they are stored. In the freezer they are good up to 2 years (you can simply take one out on the day you want to use it--thaws in 30 minutes or so). In the refrigerator they will last up to 3 months. At room temperature they will last up to a week. We've tested them in Joshua Tree at 125 degrees, and in that heat they don't last much more than a day but you can extend that by tucking the Meals in the bottom of your pack or in contact with your water bottle.

When was my CORE Meal made?

Our stores date stamp our products assuming that you're storing them refrigerated. If somehow that date gets forgotten, we've included a Julian date from the date we made the batch. The first two digits are the year and the last three digits are the day of the year. If the number is 10107, that means we made them in 2010 on the 107th day: or May 1st, 2010. We distribute CORE Meals to stores frozen, so you have three months from thaw to use them before you should throw them back in the freezer.

How do I know if my CORE Meal is still good?

CORE Meals are food. Treat them like food. If you accidentally leave them out for a while, sniff and look for mold before you consume them. If something tastes funny, don't continue eating! E-mail info@corefoods.com and we'll happily ship you out a new one.

Am I a Warrior?

The Warrior Meals is the only protein bar that uses certified Organic Whey Protein. The importance of this distinction is that the protein is tested to make sure that every gram is actually soluble. So you can be sure Warrior Meals deliver 18 grams of hearty non-denatured muscle building Organic protein for athletic endeavors, workouts, and heightened performance. An optimal proportion of complex carbohydrates and healthy essential fats slows down your metabolism of this food and provides a complete balanced meal. A slightly higher proportion of cooked food takes you the extra mile and the absence of sweeteners makes sure that mile shows. We recommend Warrior for outdoor fun, hard exercise, and high intensity activities.

Am I a Defender?

Defender Meals are focused on maximizing health and longevity. This recipe follows a strict vegan diet, which has been proven to be the most powerful weapon to Defend against diseases of affluence (heart disease, cancers, etc.)--the diseases that kill the majority of Americans. Defender Meals utilize our balanced recipe of complex carbohydrates and healthy essential fats fortified with Organic Flax and nuts for 12 grams of Organic Vegan protein. We recommend Defender for car rides, plane trips, sedentary activities, or Vegan lifestyles.

Where can I learn more about your nutrition philosophy?

We're proud of the hard work we put into developing CORE Meals and we're excited that you want to read more. Please read Our Research, a statement from our founder.

Why is Sweetener-Free so important?

Over-consumption of sugar is at the heart of the obesity epidemic and is a leading cause for nutrition-related health problems. In our own research we observe sugar playing a large role in taxing metabolic changes that may lead to quicker aging of body systems. Both safe and unsafe sugars are used in nearly every product in grocery stores in far too high proportions. Some even use carcinogenic artificial sweeteners. We use Organic Raisins to balance the savory characteristics of our products.

Are CORE Meals safe for Diabetics?
Raw Almond & Raisin has 15g of sugar and Raw Cashew & Cacao has 10g. Respective to total food weight this is 75-83% less sugar content than most other bars. CORE Meals utilize a balanced proportion of complex carbohydrates and healthy fats to slow down the body's metabolism of our food over several hours. This ensures that even our reduced amount of sugar content is slowly absorbed into the body to avoid taxing insulin fluxes.

Are CORE Meals 100% Organic?

Yes. Every ingredient in CORE Meals and our kitchen are USDA Certified Organic.

USDA Organic Certified by CCOF.

Even your Whey Protein is Certified Organic?

Yes. Our Warrior Meals are the first protein bars to use Certified Organic Whey. Our friend Tera carefully cold-processes hormone-free, antibiotic-free, free range, grass-fed milk from small Wisconsin family farms and then tests to make sure the protein can actually be synthesized by your body.  She uses a cool temperature ultra filtration process that preserves the protein structures in her LEED Certified green facility. We source 80% Protein Concentrate from her because it is significantly less processed and denatures less of the protein than the 90% Protein Isolate found in most other products. 

Are CORE Meals 100% Raw?

While utilizing raw ingredients is an important part of our recipe, we do not believe that a 100% raw lifestyle is the optimal human diet. Our stomachs are 1/3 smaller than our all-raw chimpanzee ancestors' and our dental formula is the same—we are built to consume some of our food in a calorically denser, cooked form. Defender Meals have the most Raw content while Warrior Meals have slightly more cooked.

Are your Spices whole and raw?

Yes. We believe in uncompromising nutrition and this does not stop at our spices. We grind raw, whole plants for spices rather than using sugar-infused, alcohol-extracted, or artificially created flavoring found in many other products.

Are your Vanilla and Cacao Free Trade?

All ingredients that can be purchased Fair Trade are Certified by TransFair USA.

Are CORE Meals Kosher?

All CORE Meals are Certified Kosher by the Orthodox Union.

Are CORE Meals Gluten-Free?
All of our ingredients are gluten-free. However, our Organic Oat farmers cannot guarantee that windblown or bird-carried wheat grains don't occasionally end up in the fields and thus in the mills.

We test all of our batches using EZ-Gluten strips. They are sensitive enough to detect levels of gluten as low as 10 parts per million (ppm) and are approved by ELISA Laboratory. We will announce any batches with gluten residue here: NONE CURRENTLY.

Our Company

Do you really donate 100% of net profits to charity?

Yes. We are certified by the Golden Rule Trust that we commit to Zero Percent Financial Return, which means that any profit we make beyond our costs of doing business has to be given away. That gives us a strong incentive to internalize all of our costs. We spend the money to make sure we are on the cutting edge of sustainability, have happy, healthy employees, and produce the highest quality product. (For more information about why internalized costs are so important, please watch Anne Leonard's Story of Stuff.) All remaining profits are administered by the CORE Foundation to fund projects aligned with our mission of building a healthy world.

Why do you cap salaries at the industry average?

We feel that the success of our company is built just as much by the commitment of our consumers, and all the great people that got us here, as it is about our hard work. We deserve to be compensated for our talents and efforts, but we believe success should be shared. Excessive wealth goes hand in hand with poverty, and the suffering of both conditions is great. We find true happiness in taking only what we need and giving all that we can.

Why do you insist on paying living wages?

Every person deserves the right to healthy food, clean water, a safe home, and the opportunity to follow their bliss. Sometimes minimum wages are not enough for workers to be able to have all these things in the same area they work. We know that our employees are our most important investment and we want to make sure they have a strong foundation on which to succeed.

Are you carbon neutral?

Yes. First we reduce our emissions as much as possible through actions like keeping our ingredients sourced locally, working towards closed loop production, and avoiding excess waste and energy use. We offset the remaining emissions through CarbonFund.org.

Here's our CarbonFree Certificate.

How do you deal with packaging waste?

Packaging films made of recycled plastic are not currently being produced. Since bar wrappers utilize a fusion of metalized inner layers and plastic outer layers, they cannot be effectively recycled yet either. We are ecstatic to see home compostable packaging being produced, but unfortunately CORE Meals are too fresh for this type of film to adequately protect our product from oxygen and moisture. If any one of these materials becomes an option in the future, we commit to sourcing it. In the meantime we're collecting our used wrappers and turning them into other consumer goods.

Please help us upcycle our packages through our partnership with Terracycle!

What about your carton waste?

Because our product is refrigerated, the high surface area of recycled paperboard becomes soiled and is not appropriate at this time. Paperboard made from new trees is denser and maintains its integrity through refrigerated distribution and shelving.

The paperboard we use is certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) to ensure that our paper is responsibly forested (without pesticides, GMOs, or virgin cutting) and respects indigenous rights. It is of course, 100% recyclable.

Are you Made in the USA? 

Every aspect of CORE products from ingredients to packaging to labor is sourced within the United States.  

We believe in the visionary model of this country and choose to vote with our dollar for continued leadership in human rights, environmental protection, and peace.

Are you Local?

Yes. We team up with the most local, outstanding raw ingredient producers and businesses who are all at the forefront of quality and sustainability in their industry. Please learn more about Our Friends.

You didn't answer my question! How can I add to this list?
We are serious about our transparency. Please e-mail info [at] corefoods.com and we'll post an answer as soon as we can.