What's the deal with...

[Raene]

raw almonds and almond butter?
I'm out of the loop since 2 yrs ago when I went raw things were fine...I heard that they have to be pasteurized now, right...and if so, do the ones bought online from say, rawguru have to be pasteurized as well...and is this the same story for nut butter? I'm wondering why I spent $18 on "raw" almond butter last week at my HF store if it's not really raw.
Thanks for the insight!

[Blazin'Jane]

rawfromthefarm.com still sells RAW almonds. I've ordered from them and they are very nice to do business with.

[faith4u]

Yes, you have to be careful. The local health food stores by me still sell what they call raw almonds but when I called and talked to them they weren't actually raw almonds.

So, you can't go by what the bins say.

You can buy directly from the growers and get raw almonds.

[shashibala]

Yesterday I asked my HFS person this very question. He said that as of Jan,08
all almonds must by law be pasteurized!! I think that they use a gas pasteurization process. Due to a "loop hole" they are still allowed to label them raw!!! I'm going to check out rawfromthefarm.com that Blazin'jane suggested. Almonds are a big part of my life!

[pamparred]

As for almonds being pasteurized, it is not a law but a mandate by the almond growers association in conjunction with the FDA. Individual farmers can choose not to and many do and sell them at farmer's markets and through the internet. The site posted, rawfromthefarm.com, has wonderful nuts, not pasteurized. They are reasonably priced. I ordered almonds and pecans from them. Can't wait til they come.

[Raene]

What about nut butter, then...where to get non-pasteurized?

[RawMistress]

I guess I will have to stay away from them for now.
We have pecan trees so I will substitue them for now!
Thanks for the heads up!;) I didnt know!