Breaking Raw News! MANDATORY ALMOND PASTEURIZATION

All Almonds will be Pasteurized starting 2007! * No label allowing "truly raw almonds" * Almonds labeled as "Raw Almonds" will still have been pasteurized! A big lie and fraud!! You are about to be denied your food freedom choices! Did you know that starting in the fall of 2007, truly raw almonds will not be available in the USA or Canada? See link below for the pasteurization plan. The FDA has decided not to tell the consumer the truth about this processing step. The almonds you will buy in Whole Foods this fall may still say "raw almonds" but they will have been subjected to high heat and a five log kill step...that they are calling "Pasteurization". This lie is being permitted by the marketing order!!

[www.almondboard.com]

Take a stand!

You're Rawsome!
Alex
www.rawguru.com
www.empoweredfoods.com

yes, I wrote them a letter, this was posted here a few weeks ago It is very important!!

how are you gonna sprout your ALMONDS?


I DID talk to an important lobbyist in washington about this, he says those people really don't have that power to do that, they are not government..he knew about it already.Who knows though.





Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 04/01/2007 06:32PM by coconutcream.

Italy & Europe will cash in on this fiasco, because they have organic raw almonds.

The almond industry will feel it, when the many raw foodists and health fans, boycott their farce stunt.

response from the almond board to my email:

We appreciate your comments and suggestions about the pasteurization of raw almonds.

The almond industry strives to provide consumers with a product that they can enjoy, that is safe, and that can benefit health. With consumers’ health and safety as its number one priority, the Almond Board of California worked with the United States Department of Agriculture to institute the pasteurization program. The purpose of this program is to ensure consumers are provided with safe, wholesome food products free from potentially harmful levels of unsafe bacteria.

You can be assured that pasteurized almonds are as nutritious and delicious as unpasteurized almonds. The almond industry invested in independent nutritional lab analyses of pasteurized versus unpasteurized almonds. Those tests did not reveal any degradation of the taste, quality or nutritional value of treated almonds. Pasteurized almonds are still nutrient dense, a good source of protein and fiber, an excellent source of vitamin E and magnesium, and still help maintain a healthy cholesterol level.

As is the case with many other foods treated for safety, raw almonds that have been pasteurized do not differ in any significant way from untreated raw almonds, and therefore are still sold as “raw” under federal labeling regulations.

We hope you will continue to enjoy almonds knowing that they are the same wholesome food that you have enjoyed for so long.

Sincerely,

The Almond Board of California

If it weren't hopeless to try to argue with functionaries like these, I would e-mail them back, If pasteurized almonds do not differ in any significant way from untreated almonds, then why spend millions of dollars pasteurizing them in the first place? You are obviously destroying something significant if you subject the food to a process harsh enough to turn living bacteria into dysfunctional residue.