Friday, April 13, 2007


Almonds are our friends!


Mandatory Almond Pasteurization


This has become a hot topic in the past few weeks within the raw and living foods community. The Almond Board has issued an "Action Plan" (see - http://www.almondboard.com/Programs/content.cfm?ItemNumber=890&snItemNumber=450) that later this year all almonds (with a few exceptions) must be pasteurized, and there will be no indication on the label.


Why is this a big deal, you may ask? Because consumers will be lead to believe that they are purchasing viable almonds. Once the nut has been denatured, it cannot be sprouted. The almond is dead vs. living. This means that the nutrients and enzymes have been compromised and your body will not recognize it in the same way that it recognizes a truly raw, sproutable almond.


The reason for this plan is from 2 incidences of salmonella occuring from raw almonds. 2 incidences. If you can imagine for a moment the number of incidences of bacteria from undercooked meats, eggs, fish and the recent problems with spinach. All of these foods are still being sold in their raw, fresh forms.


Part of the problem is that almost all almonds will be pasteurized, and the other problem is that the almond packages will still indicate "raw" on them. Pasteurization is clearly a heat process, which dentures and compromises all living nutrients.


Here is a petition requesting that unpasteurized almonds should remain available, and that almonds that are pasteurized should be labled as such: http://www.gopetition.com/online/11754.html


Here is the e-mail address to the Almond Board: rule@almondboard.com


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