Every time I went across the border to the States growing up, I was always on the lookout for treats that were different from the ones I could get in Canada. Nowadays, I go there with my radar on to buy keto foods that are either only available there, or are more affordable there. If you're a keto Canadian with an upcoming trip across the border, this blog post is for you, to make the most of your cross-border shopping allowance.

I usually hit up a few different places while to do my food shopping, including Walmart, Costco, even dollar stores usually have a few good finds. I also added the Grocery Outlet to my list during my recent trip to Seattle. When it comes to keto grocery shopping, it helps me to think in categories so that I don't miss stuff as I shop. There are 8 main categories that I look at.

1. Flavoured Packaged Fish & Meat. I don't know why I've only ever seen these in the States, but they are so convenient! The fish/meat is tightly packed with a sauce or seasoning in a sturdy lightweight plastic wrap, making them an awesome backpacking/hiking snack. Some even come with their own fork, but I prefer them without as it's less wasteful. You can get tuna, salmon and chicken, though they tend to have the best variety of flavours in tuna. Just make sure you check each flavour for the carb content as some may use sauces that have sugar in them. You can find these at any big box store like Walmart, Target, you can even find them at dollar stores on occasion, but you'll get a better selection for the same price at the other two.

2. Low Carb Crisps. I don't usually buy packaged cheese crisps. They're so easy to make yourself at home, and way cheaper too. That being said, it's nice to have packaged ones on hand for an impromptu hike or last minute backpacking trip. I found all these, and even the Quest Protein Crisps at a Grocery Outlet store in Seattle. All of them were only $2 usd per bag, way cheaper than you can find at Costco or at specialty grocery stores that would normally carry them.

3. Flavour Extracts. We have plenty of flavour extracts in Canada, but sometimes you can find flavours that are harder to find back home. They're also usually cheaper too. I found these orange and cake batter extracts at Costco, neither of which I have ever seen in a store back home.

4. Flavoured Pork Rinds. Pork rinds aren't as popular in Canada, but in the States, they're plentiful. You can get standard skin pork rinds as well as cracklin' pork rinds that have a bit of meat attached. They can in smaller bags and party-sized bags. You can also get them in a much wider variety of flavours, as you can see here. Beyond these, I've also seen sour cream & onion, maple bacon, jalapeño cheddar, rosemary & sea salt... the list goes on. So if you're into pork rinds, it's always worth a look. I got these at Walmart and a dollar store, but you can find pork rinds in pretty much any grocery store.

5. Mexican Food. US food culture is much more influenced by Mexico than any western country, as you would expect with them sharing a border. This is patently obvious when you go to the Mexican section at major chain grocery stores. We can get some of the same things in Canadian stores some times, but there's just more variety in the States. Take the Mexican shredded seasoned pork packages. I've never seen those anywhere before, but they're perfect for an easy camping meal or a quick meal on the go. Salsa verde also isn't as common, and that was the first time I had ever seen avocado salsa. And there's always lots of different hot sauces. Again, it's important to check any sauces and seasonings for added sugars.

6. Pickles and Condiments. Sugar-free sauces are starting to become more common in Canada, but the ones you get in the grocery store usually have the dodgier sweeteners like sorbitol or sucralose. This brand of BBQ sauce below, on the other hand, uses erithrytol and stevia as the sweeteners in all three flavours. You can also find random obscure items that are often only found and specialty stores, like the blue cheese olives and blue cheese Dijon mustard (yes, I love blue cheese). All these items were bought at Walmart.

7. Nuts and Dried Fruit. It's not necessarily all that much cheaper to buy nuts or dried fruit in the States, but you can sometimes find different flavours or different fruit that aren't readily available in Canada. The spicy Mexican peanuts below that I bought at a dollar store aren't something I've seen in Canada. And these dried mulberries that I bought at the Grocery Outlet will make a great addition to my keto trail mix that I make for backpacking and hiking (mulberries have a better carb profile than blueberries, which are what I usually dehydrate for my mix).

8. Drinks. You can usually find a few different sugar-free or sweetener-free convenience drinks. Some, like these Five Organic drinks, which are made with a blend of tea, fruit and/or veggie extracts to give you a dose of anti-oxidants and/or electrolytes. They're sweetened with erithrytol and only have trace amounts of carbs. I found these on sale for $1.50/bottle at Walmart. Also be on the lookout for flavoured, unsweetened sodas like LaCroix, which comes in different flavours than the varieties you can get in Canada, like mango, coconut, peach-pear, passion fruit, apricot, etc. Try to avoid ones with aspartame and sucralose if you can, though if you were going to have one, sucralose is the lesser of the two evils.

9. Jellies and Puddings. I don't know why, but they always seem to have way more sugar-free instant jelly and pudding desserts in the US (these were from Walmart) than they do in standard grocery stores in Canada. Sometimes I can find more variety in low-carb stores, but they're always way more expensive. Now I'm not saying these should be a standard food to be eaten daily, and you can make much healthier versions yourself if you don't mind making the effort, but sometimes you just want something easy and pre-packaged for use in a dessert recipe or just as an easy snack. Bear in mind that the brands feature here do use sucralose as the sweetener, so I would only use then sparingly on occasion.

10. Gum and Candy. Also in the unnecessary extras list of foods, I will sometimes take a meander down the candy aisle to see what sugar-free options are available. Like in Canada, most items are sweetened with sorbitol, malitol and/or aspartame, which are pretty much the worst kinds of sweeteners for you. I don't buy these, but I will look at ingredient lists on sweets and try to find ones that use either xylitol, erithrytol and/or stevia as their sweeteners. There weren't many, but I was able to find these two items sweetened with xylitol.

This is by no means a comprehensive list, but it does give you a place to start when you make a cross-border grocery haul. Did I miss any keto-friendly, low-carb foods that you regularly look for that isn't as common or affordable in Canada? Please let me know in the comments so that we can all share from each others' experience.