Foods you THINK are raw that aren't!

[Nature_is_Yummy!]

So I just read that dates ferment easily so they get pasteurized!! And lately I've been thinking... raisins--aren't they heated? Same with all dried fruit? And nuts... how do they get the shells off without a hot machine? Should we be concerned? And cold-pressed olive oil isn't raw. Funny, it's in all the recipes.

Has anybody actually called companies to find out exactly how they process their products?

It seems all you can really trust is organic produce... which I can't afford!

[jjonak]

We get a lot of our dried fruit from a local organic farm and they are just sun dried. The dried fruit that makes me suspicious are the glossily packaged ones at the store that are very soft and moist and usually have preservatives listed on the back. The natural dried fruit pieces that we get are like leather. I still love them, but they look completely different than most commercial dried fruit and the color is darker, too.

[robertandenith]

I use my dehydrator!!!

you can buy dry fruit, nuts and seeds in bulk through the internet. There is a lot of great source out there that as a matter of fact I have to find a company myself because I am restarting my raw diet once again and buying all these stuff at my store or local farm can be pricey! :(

[Bobbie]

what about sundried tomatoes????????????

[rawandama]

cold pressed olive oil isn't raw??? I just spent a butt-load on a small bottle of it today. OI!!!!

[Nature_is_Yummy!]

Cold-pressed isn't (cold is a relative term) but in the book "Rawsome!" she says that extra-virgin olive oil is extracted at room temperature. So... I am assuming that is OK? Personally I am avoiding oil altogether. Though I do have more trust in flax oil since it is refrigerated anyway... but couldn't we just use avocado for the oil in recipes?

[fiddler]

cold pressed olive oil isn't raw??? I just spent a butt-load on a small bottle of it today. OI!!!! Was that a metric buttload or just a buttload? Click Here -- http://www.brown-college.org/wiki/index.php/Buttload (http://www.brown-college.org/wiki/index.php/Buttload)

Growing up and still today I've heard and used the term boatload but never buttload :-) Learn something new everyday.

[Autumn]

I'm sorry to hijack this thread (even further!), but had to share: I thought it was buttload as well. My mother screwed up so many sayings/phrases when we were young. Some of her gems:

A bowl face lie.
Spare of the moment.
A tough toad to row.
She put the carriage in front of herself. (This was her version of "cart before the horse".)
You get more fleas with sandpaper.

I used to keep a notebook with "Lorraine-isms". She does it to this day, and we all crack up. :)

But back to the OT:
Yes, many individuals have called or emailed many companies to find out if their products are truly raw. If there is a specific product/brand you are questioning, try using the search feature above (the banana) and see if someone has already done the research. There are raw olive oils (I believe Alissa sells one.) You can be assured that all of her products are raw.

Most nuts are heat processed to get them out of their shells. However, there are plenty that are not. Again, use the search to see if someone has already found out about a particular product, or of course you can email the company. I rarely eat nuts anymore, but when I have bought them, I buy them in the shell (and therefore can't eat handfuls at a time), so I know they are raw. My husband gets his pecans from a friend. If you have a friend who has a nut tree, all the more better. :)

[veganman]

I am also wondering about sundried tomatoes. Would it depend on the company?

[littleangelbear]

I buy a lot of my seeds and nuts at Whole Foods market. I've never worried.

I also order lots of my stuff from Sun Organic Farm in California...no problems there either.