Raw Almonds — An Endangered Species

A lot of us purchase raw, unprocessed almonds for snacks, to make nut milk or even almonnaise, a healthy substitute for egg based mayonnaise. Raw almonds are a source of superior nutrition. They provide an excellent source of plant protein, B vitamins, essential minerals, unsaturated fats and fiber. They have no cholesterol, are relatively free from pesticide residue, and are NOT PASTEURIZED.

Now comes the news from the Almond Board of California (ABC) that almonds will soon be pasteurized, subjected to heat, which makes them 'cooked' but the packaging will still proclaim them to be RAW. Excuse me? How can they do that?


Beginning this fall, pasteurized almonds will be packaged as raw. ABC can see no difference between a live food and one that has been depleted of its life force by being heated. Worse yet, an unsuspecting consumer will be duped. The world-wide hue and cry to "read the labels" loses all meaning when the labels lie.


Whether you eat raw almonds or not, speaking up about this disgraceful proposed practice is imperative. Today, almonds; tomorrow, who knows what? I don't want my almonds pasteurized, but more importantly, I want to know what I'm buying. The label can't lie.

Take a moment to send a comment to the Almond Board of California shaming them for thinking they can scam the buying public and no one will notice! Here's what I told them:

I've been using raw almonds to make almond milk for over 20 years. I purchase a lot of raw almonds, and I cannot understand the thinking involved regarding the plan to pasteurize almonds and continue to sell them as 'raw'. Where will all the nutrition be? Up in steam? No, thank you. If this is a CYA tactic because of an isolated case of contamination, it's extreme. Is big business so married to the bottom line that it has lost all sense of morals? Don't tinker with what nature intended us to eat! Leave my raw almonds, raw. Don't cook them, but if you do, don't tell me they're still raw.


Food industry giants have played around with our food supply, substituting synthetic chemicals for real food to the detriment of our health. The selection of live, whole foods dwindles daily. Unless we speak up for ourselves, corporate greed will continue, unchecked, cutting one corner after another. It's our food, our purchasing power and our lives at stake. Statistics show that the increase in debilitating and fatal diseases has risen to near epidemic proportions since we've allowed our grocery shelves to be filled with products devoid of nutrition and laden with synthetic chemicals, with all the life force cooked right out of them, all in the name of profit.
To blatantly deceive the consumer by mislabeling a product, as in the case of the almonds, is criminal.