I'm sorry to be hogging the forum today, but I've been wanting to ask... Did someone state that dried apples and bananas from the store aren't raw?

There is no easy way to know for sure that died apples or bananas from the store are raw because we do not know if the food was dried at less than 118 degrees.

Almost all dried fruit is not raw. It's either steamed or baked before the dehydration process. Unless it says sun-dried or something, assume it's cooked.

The taste and texture difference between a real sun-dried fruit and the normal dried fruits at the store is significant.

Are the sundried tomatoes REALLY sun-dried? I know everyone is going to tell me to call the company, I was just wondering what other people have been told when they called the company. I guess they look sundried, but it could just be a marketing gimick by the pizza companies i.e. sundried sounds better than dried or dehydrated. Thanks!

"Would you like dehydrated tomatos on your pizza?"

"Ikes, how did they get dehydrated? Quick, someone give them some water, they're parched"

Most sun-dried tomatoes aren't close to raw and aren't really sun-dried, except for the authentic ones you can find at some Italian markets or co-op food stores.

Hi,

I don't consider dried apples or banana's raw (for the most part) unless they specify that they are sun-dried on the packet.

I once read something about the drying process of fruit - quite often it involves the use of hydrogenated vegetable oil (sorry I don't remember the link).

This is not always mentioned on the packet, I'm assuming because the oil was used in the drying process and not added to the final product.

I've come across a number of (UK) products that list their ingredients as just "100%" dried fruit, but have been dried with veggie oil (e.g. Sainsbury's dried figs). I can't digest vegetable oil at all, if I consume it I wake up the next morning with a grease slick on my face. That's how I can tell.

Also, if you squeeze the fruit in a little kitchen paper you get a greasy residue from the vegetable oil.

HTH,

Skye,

x x x

Someone else tried to tell me that all dried fruit is not raw unless you like spend loads of money and buy it from David Wolfe. But, how do you explain the little flys which hatch and fly out of my boxes of dates I buy at a local shop? They're not even labled organic but they must be pretty natural if insect lave survives!

Rob

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Rob Hull - Funky Raw
My blog: [www.rawrob.com]

Insect larvae can easily survive in cooked dried fruit. I'm not sure what you mean.

Surely larvae would die if cooked?

Rob

--
Rob Hull - Funky Raw
My blog: [www.rawrob.com]

Rob,
The presence of fruit flies (if that's what they are) are not a certain indicator of the Raw nature of your fruit, in this case dates. They are an indicator that the fruit they are inhabiting has passed its peak of ripeness and the skin has loosened around the stem or the skin is bruised or cut, which allows them access to their food and supports their breeding cycle and their annoying ability to increase their tribe so quickly to take advantage of the food source. Your infested dates have been exposed to insects at a point between harvesting and delivery to your source. If your dates were dried at a temperture above 118 degrees F for any length of time they aren't considered truly raw, if that is of concern to you. If insect eggs are exposed to temperatures higher than the species' natural environment they probably die unless that species has developed a protective mechanism which allows it to survive the highest temperature of its natural habitat by going dormant, which is usually only found in extreme desert species.