Undercover superfood causes a stir in new pasta sauce for school kids

Specialist pasta meals supplier Pasta King, has introduced quinoa (pronounced keen wah) as a main ingredient in a new sauce to get more vitamins into school kids' diets without them noticing.

Quinoa is a non-wheat seed rich in protein, calcium and iron and all nine essential amino acids, but since it does not have a strong flavour, it is an ideal ingredient to 'secretly' add to students' food, claims the company.

Pasta King's operations director Paul Haigney launched the 'hidden veg' concept last year with a range of sauces packed full of tiny chunks of carrot so small they could not be detected by children. Since then, he has introduced extra oily fish sauces and now his latest creation Cajun Quinoa. He says: "Quinoa is an excellent superfood which was originally discovered in the 1800s by the Incas, who used it to make their warriors strong.

"We're hoping to give the same benefit to the hundreds of thousands of schoolchildren that regularly eat our sauces. You've got to be so careful introducing a new variety of sauce to the school market because you can easily turn kids off with new and strange flavours. That's why quinoa is an ideal ingredient because there is really no taste to it, but it naturally fortifies each meal with extra vitamins. The response we have already had since the launch has been great."