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buying dehydrated fruit

I have found a nice selection of dehydrated fruits in the bulk section at the natural foods store I usually shop at, but how do I know if they are still raw? Is dehydrated food that is sold in stores usually dehydrated below 108 degrees? I never get any dehydrated fruit that contains sulfides or preservatives, just the ones that have only the fruit in the ingredient list. What do you think? Safe to assume it is raw?

Comments

  • 1sweetpea1sweetpea Raw Newbie

    I really don’t think it’s safe to assume anything is raw, other than fresh produce and products that are boldly labeled RAW. More than likely, the fruits were dehydrated at much higher temperatures, in order to prevent bacteria growth.

  • beanybeeganbeanybeegan Raw Newbie

    Sorry, assuming raw, is not fact from the horses mouth. I always assume it is not raw.

  • rawlizardrawlizard Raw Newbie

    I agree with the others, the process is usually industrial and non-raw. You could also ask the customer service of your health store about this. Have them contact the provider if necessary, or get the provider’s contact info. Good luck.

  • Ask for the company name and contact info and find out for yourself.

    Dehydrator temps are not going to be an accurate predictor of the temp of the food itself, according to Gabriel Cousens. Cousens recommends a higher temp to start with to evaporate water faster, followed by a long time at a low temp. Cousens can be trusted because he does actual scientific research to back up his recommendations.

    I’ve always wondered how accurate a one-temp-fits-all approach to enzyme reduction is anyway. Take Pineapple, for example. What do the daytime temperatures of Pineapple reach in the field? Does being attached to the stalk or vine or branch prevent enzyme degradation at high temps? How do dates compare to tomatoes in terms of the temperature of enzyme degradation???

    Does anyone else wonder about this?

  • rawlizardrawlizard Raw Newbie

    Oh gosh, yes, I wonder the same thing jenoz, but your questions are more interesting! As I said in one of my post before, I have problems digesting dehydrated foods, not as much with nuts and seeds, but a lot with dehydrated vegetables. I think that the water in vegetables have a something to do with facilitating digestion, or perhaps some of the enzymes are lost in the process after all. Just my opinion.

  • TomsMomTomsMom Raw Newbie

    I get sick if I eat dehydrated veggies, too, rawlizard. I don’t know why.

  • You all make some great points. I will do some research on the supplier, but it makes sense that the industrial process probably would involve little concern for keeping the enzymes intact. jenoz, where can I learn more from Gabriel Cousens? Does he have a book or website? Also, I would guess that the one-temperature guideline that we’ve all learned is probably just a safety line for most foods, yet it does make sense that properties of the food could affect the peak temperature for enzyme degradation. And rawlizard, that is good to know about how dehydrated veggies affect you. I had never thought of that! Man I love this website—instant help + answers. Thanks!

  • Gabriel Cousens, M.D. has several books, a healing center, a graduate school program, qualifications from many different fields, etc. This guy is amazing! The book to which I was referring is Rainbow Green Live Food Cuisine. You can Google him.

  • bittbitt Raw Newbie

    I understand that most people out here may think dried fruits are not so good but actually they do contain more iron than fresh fruit and for some of us that is worth eating them.

  • 1sweetpea1sweetpea Raw Newbie

    I think there are merits to eating some dehydrated fruits, bitt. The original question was about commercially dehydrated fruits, which often have preservatives added, are dehydrated at high temperatures, contain pesticides, and are sometimes oiled up with low quality oils to keep them from sticking to one another. I would rather eat dehydrated fruits that I made myself at home. I would like to mention two drawbacks to dried fruits, though. It is very easy to overeat calorically dense dried fruits, vs. fresh. Whereas I might eat a dozen or so fresh grapes, I could easily power through a half cup or more raisins, which could contain a couple of hundred. Also, dried fruits are more likely to stick to teeth and gums, promoting tooth decay. I love dehydrated fruits, but I just eat too darn many of them at once, so I keep very little in my cupboards.

  • ras-saadonras-saadon Raw Newbie

    If it isn’t organic then its probably not raw, commercial dehydrated fruits are dried in massive ovens at high temp also they add sulfur dioxide to most dehydrated fruits in order to preserve their original color, in organic however the vast majority is sun dried but there is also some that are dried in ovens but up to temps of 50c because in order to be certified organic it has to be dried in natural temps , I work as warehouse manager for an organic food shop and on almost all organic dehydrated fruits we get is says big “sun dried” and if it isn’t I check with the producer. and we also have some non organic dehydrated fruits and they have big “sulfur dioxide added as preservative to maintain color” written on them. so for example if a dehydrated apricot is still orangish and not dark(almost black) then it has sulfur in it.

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