Store-bought Dried Fruits

[PeatrixPotter]

Hi there,

I have never been that into cooking or making my own food. Are the dehydrated fruits that you would find at the store raw? Do I need to make them myself? Also, what about those vegan energy bars?

Peatrix
:)

[tracyinfo]

Dried fruits can be questionable, as are they dehydrated at too high of temperatures or kept at around 105 to 110 degrees while drying out. You also want to watch out for any preservatives on them.

The only commercial raw bars I have found are Lara Bars. Trader Joe's has them for $1.49.

Blessings.

[sachis2112]

Unless it says "sundried" I don't trust them. If my dehydrator goes above 120 degrees, so do theirs. Also, the fruits are often covered in the sulfa stuff so that's another bad idea.

Me personally, I just don't get to do dried fruit that often.

[vegangelist]

if fruits have sulfites added, they do have to list that in the ingredients. Whole Foods shows that for bulk bins too. Central Market has some that do have them and some that don't.

Jealous about Larabars that are only 1.49!! They are 2 bucks at my WF. Also, there is another raw bar called Think Organic. They just started carrying them at my WF. They are organic (larabars are not). They are only about 25 cents more. The ironic thing is this--they are organic, so you would think that that would make them even better, right? you would be wrong. they are decent, and if you didn't know what the larabars tasted like you would probably be satisfied with them. but once you taste the larabars, the others just kind of pale by comparison.

kristi

[RawTruth]

I have never been that into cooking or making my own food. That's what so great about eating raw. You don't have to do anything more complicated than making a salad and mixing up some salad dressing (there are some r-e-a-l-l-y easy recipes, including one that has only 3 ingredients!). Or soaking and sprouting some nuts and seeds -- which is also so very easy. Everything else can be eaten with no preparation except maybe peeling (if it's not organic).

Eating raw is freedom!
:D

(I personally don't go in for dried fruit other than raisins. Everything else I eat fresh. I have picked up some Lara Bars recently because I've been in some situations where I couldn't have a banana or apple but a small "energy" bar was okay. I agree that they're scrumptious ... and totally raw as has been stated ... and easy to find.)

[rawpriestess]

Most commercially dried fruits are dehydrated at 145 degrees, which means they aren't raw, and they are passed through sulfite smoke, which is so toxic, that people can't even be in the room when they are sulfited.

So, you may choose to purchase your dried fruit at a health food store, and check to see what temperature it was dehydrated at, and also make sure it is not sulfited.

Good luck.

It is really easy to make your own, when you have a dehydrator.