HEMP CHOCOLATE NO KIN TO HASH BROWNIES

TORONTO (CP) - Fans of industrial hemp call it the "wonder weed" whose
fibres can be used in everything from clothes to construction materials.

And now a company is pioneering the use of the plant's seeds in food like
hemp chocolate. But don't let that conjure up images of hash brownies and
lava lamps.

Judging by his sigh, the founder of San Francisco-based Rella Good Cheese
Company - which makes hemp chocolate, among other things - has obviously
heard the comparison before.

In fact, Richard Rose says Tonight Show host Jay Leno even did a skit about
it with Tommy Chong, formerly one half of the comedy duo Cheech and Chong,
who made their reputation with routines about marijuana.

"That's always the first question: 'Will this get me high?'" said Rose
while on a selling trip to Toronto.

"It's a valid question, and once people understand that it's not about
drugs, that they could literally eat 100 tonnes of hemp seed and not get a
buzz, they go on to find out more about it."

And what they find out, he says, is that chocolate with hemp seeds in it is
a pretty healthy food.

"I have a long history of pioneering in the tofu industry and (when) I
started reading about hemp seeds I realized it was more nutritious than
even soybeans," said Rose, who's been marketing a cheese alternative called
Tofurella since 1986.

"It's very high in essential fatty acids, very high in a protein that's
more complete and more digestible and higher quality than that of soy...and
it tastes better."

Rose's company dehulls the hemp seed - he calls it the most radical advance
in hemp in 10,000 years - which leaves a creamy-colored meat that looks
like sesame and tastes like sunflower. It can be added to chocolate,
burgers, or turned into anything from aseptic milk to spreads.

"Add it to chocolate and you suddenly have the most nutritious chocolate
ever made. It's high in essential fatty acids and high in very high-quality
protein without any dairy in it," said Rose.

"That's what will be driving hemp seed foods in the future, the fact that
whenever you add it to something you've suddenly made the most nutritious
whatever it is. The chocolate - one ounce (28 grams) of chocolate will give
us one gram of essential fatty acids and one gram of protein."

While the cheese alternative Hemprella can be found in health food stores
across Canada, the "Bite Me" HempNut Chocolate Bars may not be widely
available.

Industrial hemp is a cousin of the marijuana plant, but only contains trace
elements of the drug tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, which produces a high.

"There's still a huge stigma about hemp that has lasted from 1937 when all
hemp was rolled under the same term and was treated as marijuana," says Jim
Hedger, who runs the Hemp Canada website.

"The `reefer madness' propaganda craze has left hemp with a very bad name,
even though it's a radically different species, or at least has radically
different properties."

A few farmers have been licenced to grow hemp in Canada over the last few
years, but only on an experimental basis, said Hedger. In February, Health
Minister Allan Rock lifted the ban on growing industrial hemp, although
there are still strict licencing requirements - like growers having to
prove they have a buyer for their crop before they can plant it.

Rose currently buys his hemp from suppliers in Europe, but is hoping to be
able to start buying from Canadian growers soon.

It may be a some time before Canada is producing enough to meet his needs -
Hedger says while farmers welcomed the lifting of restrictions on the crop,
there are still very few licenced growers.