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Login Here Signup Here Signup using FacebookI thought this would be interesting to everyone.Attatched is my original e-mail to Almonds-From-California.com, and their enlightening response
Hello, I see that you are saying your nuts are truly raw. I was under the impression that all almonds from California were required to be heat pasteurized. Is this not true? If heat is involved, what are the temperatures/procedures used? I inquire on behalf of many raw foodists who are looking for truly raw almonds and are so often deceived. I guess my last question is that will your almonds sprout? This is the true test if a nut is raw or not. Have you at your company ever sprouted them? I look forward to your responses as Myself along with many others are eagerly awaiting a supplier we can count on, and aggressively support. Thank you Gregory Spina
Here is the response:
Thank you for your inquiry regarding un-pasteurized Almonds.
Due to recent police enforcement action by the Almond Board of California (which now considers itself and its mission to be that of a police enforcement agency on behalf of private interests) we are no longer able to make any representation to you, our dear customer, about the Almonds that we sell. We are silenced about this topic under threat of law by that agency. We have recently had to endure visits to our ranch by the
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Sorry gang, I dont know why it formatted my post this way..strange. if you want an unclutterd version, i would be happy to forward the e-mail to you.
Geespeen I don’t know the company, Almonds from CA, that gave you this information, but I may be able to provide answers to your questoins with a somewhat different perspective.
There is a legal exception to the USDA pasteurization regulations. I would go into the historical that underlies teh regulation at this time, instead I will just give you 3 quotes directly from the regulations. The regulations apply to “Handlers” of almonds which is defined as almost any entitiy that sells or destributes almonds as a wholesaler or any comercial distribution. My guess is the company you quote is acually by legal definition a Handler and so prohibited from selling unpasteurized almonds. OK - 3 clips from the USDA book of regulaitons:
1. Specific Parameters of Mandatory Program Under the program, handlers must subject their almonds to a treatment process or processes that achieve in total a minimum 4-log reduction of Salmonella bacteria, or ship their almonds under one of the two exemptions cited above. The rule only affects those who meet the definition of
farmeral, thank you for providing terrifically good information for us on almonds(as usual!).
I was just curious, for almonds that are pasteurized, who is responsible for sterilizing the almonds themselves? Growers?
so, does that mean the almonds from that web site are not raw? I have been buying them for the past year and thinking they were raw. Uh man… ! Thanks for posting this.
Farmeral—thanks soo much for helping us all to understand what should be a very simple issue-Is the nut raw or not?? If your nuts are truly raw as you say they are, then the issue of where we should be purchasing from seems to be closer to resolution. Unfortunately for all of our other nut purchases other than almonds, I believe we are simply to have faith in the supplier to be truthful.
The website in question used to state the same regulations in explaining why they can sell raw unpasteurized almonds. It sounds not like they can’t sell unpasteurized almonds, but like they are forbidden to TELL us if their almonds are pasteurized or unpasteurized. This is soooo messed up! Farmeral has offered us here on goneraw the opportunity to buy unpasteurized almonds for $7.00 per pound, by reserving now & mentioning goneraw. Good deal! I hope the best for you, farmeral!
I have 10 pounds from them (almonds-from-california) in my house as we speak. I can let you know if they sprout. I just made almond butter with them.Thank you for this post.
18 hour later and we have growth! No doubts from me these are really raw almonds. There’s always the “dead” floaters to skim of the top and some broken ones, but they look great to me!
Izhpt—thank you so much for letting us know!! Now at least we know where we have one source of truly raw almonds—By the way, did you purchase their organic almonds or just the regular ones?
wow this is great to know!! i am going to order from them tomorrow.
Organic. They were on sale for $59.99 for 10 pounds so hopefully they have not been pressured to clear them out for some reason. One of my raw resources advocated buying in bulk. Nuts can be soaked, sprouted and frozen—you lose about 25% of the enzymatic content, but it’s better than throwing away rancid almonds. I do this a lot so when I need a pate, or to make almond milk, the nuts are ready. This way when I do a mass quantity soak, I’m not tempted to make chocolate mousse for 200 servings! i just use what i need.
WOOHOO! glad to hear they’re raw. I have a whole 10lb box of their almonds, conventional-i think, it was $60. they’re delicious! best almonds i’ve ever tasted. speedy delivery too. i don’t think the organic ones are on sale anymore. i’m enjoying the conventional nuts though – for half the price. :P
I’m going to only buy direct from a grower. I not only trust them more than distributors and stores, but I would rather the grower have the money.