Trader Joe Question:

[dalimeindacoconut]

Trader Joe's has some an excellent selection of raw nuts & raw almond nut butter. Was wondering about those 'date roll's rolled in coconut'. There are about 12 to 16 layed out flat in one of their plastic containers. Are these raw? not a particular fan of dates, but they looked good. Does anyone know?

[Eva]

I've actually gotten them before. The only ingredients are dates, the one almond that is definitely not roasted (but could potentially not be raw) and a small amount of coconut flakes. I felt fine after I ate them, and I would usually not feel too great after eating non raw food these days. But I'm definitely not 100% sure or anything. :)

[JennaBoBenna]

I've actually gotten them before. The only ingredients are dates, the one almond that is definitely not roasted (but could potentially not be raw) and a small amount of coconut flakes. I felt fine after I ate them, and I would usually not feel too great after eating non raw food these days. But I'm definitely not 100% sure or anything. :)

I agree.

I eat them, I actually just bought some the other day. I dipped them in Trader Joe's almond butter---Mmmm :)

[samariah]

i've seen them, they doo look good. i love their almond butter too. i wish i could learn to eat those things without going overboard...

[kaybee]

not sure about the rawness of the date coconut rolls, but i hesitatingly got a pound of their packaged non-organic medjool dates the other day--and felt really really sick after eating some..., sore throat, runny stuffy nose, etc,; that lasted until the next day. ive generally never had a problem with dates before EXCEPT this summer when i was in the UK and purchased some Tesco non organic medjools, and had the same flu-like reaction. last week i had some organic medjool dates from whole foods and no problem... im not saying that tj's arent raw, but i suspect there may be a pesticide or freshening chemical or something that may be used on non-organic dates that my body has become really sensitive to. (shoulda just spend the money and got the smaller amount of organic ones instead... not sure if i would have this rxn to tj's organic dates because never tried them, but am fine with the organic ones from whole foods and the coop.....)
so just a heads-up

kaybee

[shine72]

Who makes them. I had contacted a company that puts those out early in my raw journey, and when I called, they were nice enough to tell me that they were NOT raw. HTH!:D

[Holli]

Samariah and JennaBoBenna:

I have not seen raw almond butter at trader joes and i shop there all the time. The TJ brand says roasted almonds...what is the brand you buy at TJ??

[juliebove]

Samariah and JennaBoBenna:

I have not seen raw almond butter at trader joes and i shop there all the time. The TJ brand says roasted almonds...what is the brand you buy at TJ??

I was wondering the same thing. Have not seen raw nut butter anywhere!

[beelzebubble]

i buy raw almond butter at tj's all the time. it is their own brand and clearly says raw on it.

some of the stores may not carry it. items do seem to vary from store to store. they don't always have it either. there was a full 6 month period last year when they didn't have it at my store. keep looking, or ask at the desk.

[solongng00dnite]

In terms of something like a nut butter, if the container says raw almond butter, it is ok to eat? I just started this raw business but have not ventured out much other than fruits and veggies. This would be a lot cheaper than making it from scratch since nuts are so darn expensive.

[Cherri Garcia]

This was their response to me:


"Cherri,
We appreciate your inquiry. Our Coconut Date Rolls are produced with
fresh dates that are not dried or heated. They are picked ripe and
produced with fresh ingredients so they are kept refrigerated in our
stores. And it is also recommended to refrigerate once you're home to
maintain its shelf life. We hope this is helpful.

Thank you for shopping at Trader Joe's,
Amy
Customer Relations"

I ate them quite often when I started raw. I knew however, just by looking at the almond's texture and tasting it, that it wasn't raw, but a blanched almond of some sort. I just picked it off, no big deal. However, I did read a post here not too long ago that most dried coconut is bleached/heated. So, as rawkinlocks had said not too long ago, it's really all about your own "allowances". It seems to be mostly raw, and I felt fine after eating them. It was a great, inexpensive "raw-ish" dessert for me. I ate so many of them, actually, that I'm kinda over them now. :(

You can always go to www.traderjoes.com and ask then questions about the food they sell. I love that place! :p

Also, I get the raw almond butter there on occasion. It's right next to the other almond and peanut butters (TJ's own brand). Whether or not that's truly raw- I'm sure we could do a whole new thread on that, but I just wanted to answer your question. ;)

[bluejaunte]

I contacted TJ's maybe 6 months back regarding their house brand "raw almonds" and "raw almond butter," as well as some dried and frozen fruit. I specifically asked them if these products reach temperatures in excess of 110-115 degrees or so in any stage of processing or packaging. They were very quick to respond. The upshot is that the raw almonds are not raw; the raw almond butter is not raw; the dried fruit is not raw. The frozen fruit is. :)