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Bad News About the Almond Pasteurization Extension

queenfluffqueenfluff Raw Newbie

I just got this from a friend. The USDA rejected the Almond Boards request for an extension to the Almond Pasteurization ruling which will take effect Sept 1, 2007.

So, please be aware of what you buy. They want to pasteurize with PPO which is a chemical used to make bowling balls!

See http://cornucopia.org/index.php/usda…reatment…

for the full news release for more info.

Comments

  • That just amazes me. What type of benefit do they think can come from this? Guess Ill be buying my almonds from a raw website. Wait. Will there even be completely raw almonds anymore?

  • rawmamarawmama Raw Newbie

    I don’t want bowling ball milk. I want almond milk :( Now, how many people were writing in saying, “yea, please pasteurize almonds!” vs those writing in, “please don’t!” ??? Is there any place to see those figures?

  • Thanks, printing out the letters to send out tomorow. I hate it when they do things like this.

    rawmama, I sure would like to see that data too!!!!!! I’m so tired of them not listening and ok’ing things like genetic eng foods, chemicals etc.

    jkd_soccer801..they won’t if the FDA says to ship them into the country they need to be sprayed..sigh.

  • best thing to do, grow your own if you live in a warm enough climate.

  • ZoeZoe Raw Newbie

    Me and Chris have already switched to using sunflower seeds instead of almonds. We bought some almonds and they didn’t sprout the way they used to so we figured it was time to say goodbye. Actually our cheese and other recipes taste much better with sunflower seeds, so we’re quite happy, and they’re a quarter of the price of almonds. I know it is a bad thing coz of our freedom being squashed, but at least there is an alternative….for now anyway.

  • Bowling ball milk….. Are bowling balls raw?

  • queenfluffqueenfluff Raw Newbie

    Some of you may know about the salmonella outbreaks in raw almonds that occured back in I think 2001 – one person died and they think the source was raw almonds (but can you guess where the problem originated ?- think back to the spinach outbreak that happened not to long ago – they found out the contamination came from run off pollution from factory farms). Anyhow, they got sued and lost money so basically, that was it. They got to protect their money and they decided that pasteurization was the answer.

    So, no, they don’t care whether or not this benefits people or whether it is necessary to really be done. They just don’t wanna get sued again. They say they are trying to protect people from salmonella outbreaks by doing this. Not really – they want to protect themselves from losing money again. It is all about money. A few people think it is a monopoly for the big almond growers to control everything. That might be true too – because the small almond growers can’t afford the necessary equipment for pasteurization and will be forced out of business.

    For alternatives, you can buy the organic almonds from overseas but they will end up going fast since people will be avoiding the california almonds. The overseas ones are just as expensive as the the california ones but at least they won’t have PPO on them.

    I actually don’t use a lot of almonds – I use more cashews. But thanks Zoe for the tip on sunflower seeds.They are pretty cheap.

  • stylistchickstylistchick Raw Newbie

    i don’t use alot of almonds, but i like my marantha raw almond butter. should i stock up on that? this is just really messed up ! unbelievable! could someone give a comprehensive list of what nuts are actually raw? are nuts heated during the shelling process?

  • queenfluffqueenfluff Raw Newbie

    Hi stylistchick -

    Actually the marantha raw almond butter are not really raw – if you look at their site – they state that they heat too high to be raw. But if you are not a purist than you might want to email them to check on the state of the almonds they are using.

    Lots of almonds are already pastuerized – some growers got ahead of the game and started back in April to be ready.

    Some rawies think that no nuts are truely raw. Even organic allows some natural chemicals to be used before they are sold but it depends on the grower too. Most cashews that are sold in the stores that say raw aren’t -they are heated during the shelling process – you have to buy the “truely” raw cashews from the online raw sites. David Wolfe sells the truely raw ones that are grown in Indonesia.

    I would say to buy your nuts online from the raw stores if you are not sure the sources of the nuts at your local store. You can always ask the people at the store though but they may not know – you would have to find out the supplier and than contact them.

    Me – I am not a total purist – I haven’t been eating too many nuts lately anyhow (the ants in our apartment this summer excel at seeking them out and finding them – haha!) but I will buy the raw cashews from the store since I can’t afford the truely raw ones right now.

  • germin8germin8 Raw Master

    This is not good news. Thanks for the update queenfluff. So, CAN we get raw almonds overseas? Or are they just organic (and pasteurized)?

    So, all those raw bars with almonds are no longer raw… they probably have to re-label the package to not read “not heated”. (Yes, double negative…) So, if papaya and pineapple have protein digesting enzymes… would it be best to eat these with almonds. I don’t think raw pineapple and nuts create a good flavor in the tongue… but I was just curious.

  • queenfluffqueenfluff Raw Newbie

    The pasteurization only apply to almonds grown in California. So, if you buy raw organic almonds that say they are grown in say France – they won’t be pasteurized. California grows 100% of all the almonds grown in the US. I think Florida is the only other place you might be able to grow them but Florida doesn’t have any almond growers as far as I know.

    My local coop sells two different raw organic almonds one from California and the other grown in Europe. They both cost the same. Although I have heard it say that the ones grown overseas are not as good quality as California ones (not sure what that means – how is their quality not as good?) but at least they are not half bowling balls.

    There is a place online that apparently will not be pasteurizing their almonds – it is a small almond farm in California. They are legally protected by some old law. You can read about them here:

    www.wholesale-almonds.com

    So, you can buy some online or if you live in Cali – you can might be able to go to the small farms themselves and buy them but the growers are only allowed to sell a certain poundage each day unpasteurized.

  • RCBAliveRCBAlive Raw Newbie

    Thanks so much Queen for the link to the farm that claims it will sell raw almonds. I manage a natural foods store and have really been upset about this ruling. The precedence that is established by this ruling could be devastating to the raw and organic food industry. The fact that labeling can still call pasteurized almonds raw is appalling. Haven’t they ever heard of truth in advertising? The interesting thing about the two salmonella outbreaks in recent years related to almonds and the recent spinach scare is that none of the products were organic! It seems that perhaps the practices used by organic farmers are more careful and perhaps that should be the loophole in the pasteurization ruling.

  • YeGADS! this is terrible, and why we need to speak out, I faxed over letters to those people today to help protest what is happening.

    Thank you so much for the link to the raw almonds that are NOT pasteurized, I love nuts!

    Blessings Lisa

  • queenfluff, thanks for the link. their prices seem very reasonable. i think i will order some today.

    i did find something posted on cure zone http://curezone.com/forums/fm.asp?i=940910 regarding trader joes’ almonds. they say they are not heated above 115 degrees. i guess depending on what temperature you use as your guidline these might pass (?). if anyone else buys trader joe’s almonds, have you tried sprouting them? wouldn’t this be the test? maybe i will try this…

  • newbienewbie Raw Newbie

    I’ve been corresponding with my supplier on-line that is based out of Berkeley, CA and they said that they will continue to have alive, raw organic almonds and almond butter after Sep.1, but their supplies will be more limited. They said that they can buy directly from “the field” at 100 lbs. per day. They assured me that going forward, they will still have plenty.

    If anyone is interested, their site is: http://www.livingtreecommunity.com/

    Queenfluff, do you know about this loop-hole? Perhaps it applies when you buy directly from the orchard?

  • queenfluffqueenfluff Raw Newbie

    Yes, you can buy directly from the growers unpasteurized but they are only allowed to sell a certain poundage a day unpasteurized like you stated. That is allowed. You have to go directly to the growers to get them though so you have to be in California.

    It is not allowed under the new ruling to ship the unpasterized almonds to people. Except for that one farm that falls under that old law – that is something different I guess- the new pasteurization law doesn’t effect them – they are selling theirs online.

    That is great about Living Tree – I wish their nut butters were more affordable. They are so expensive.

    Oh, for Trader Joes almonds – I have heard that their supplier is a the big nut company Blue Diamond. I am sure they are already pasteurizing their almonds. I have bought their almond before but haven’t tried sprouting them.

  • germin8germin8 Raw Master

    queenfluff, I just read your forum about the small farm in California protected by “some old law”. That’s great news… that we can order raw almonds from them. Thanks for the info.

  • queenfluffqueenfluff Raw Newbie

    All,

    Here is a good article about the almond issue. It explains alot of stuff and talks about Living Tree Community Foods

    http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/08/23/BUE8RN9HJ.DTL

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