5 Canadian Pasta Brands That Are Actually Worth It (And 3 To Skip)

5 Canadian Pasta Brands That Are Actually Worth It (And 3 To Skip) Pasta is the most-purchased grocery item in Canada. Not rice. Not bread. Not frozen pizza. Pasta. Canadians buy more boxes of pasta per household than almost any other packaged food on the shelf. And here's what most Canadians have never been told. Canada is the world's number one producer of durum wheat — the variety of wheat that makes real pasta. Saskatchewan, Alberta, and Manitoba grow 15 percent of all the durum wheat on planet earth. More than Italy. More than the United States. More than any other country. Italy, the global capital of pasta production, makes 22 percent of all the pasta in the world. They export pasta to nearly two hundred countries. But listen to this. Italy does not grow enough durum wheat to feed its own pasta industry. So, Italy imports massive quantities of it. From where? Their number one source — CANADA! Which means the bag of imported Italian pasta sitting in your Canadian grocery cart? There is a high chance the wheat inside was grown right here. Shipped six thousand kilometers to Italy. Pressed into pasta. Boxed in Italian packaging. And shipped six thousand kilometers back across the Atlantic to be sold to you at a premium price. And brand number five on this list — a Canadian store brand most shoppers walk right past — cuts out that entire transatlantic trip. Same gold-standard production as the premium imports. Made in Canada. With Canadian wheat. For less than three dollars. To celebrate Canada Day, we explore five Canadian pasta brands that are actually worth every dollar. Three you should skip. One Italian giant on this list — with a shrinkflation story Canadians need to know about. Don't skip ahead. This is Canada Food Insider — where the labels get read, so the truth gets told. Let's dive in.