Fumigated Almonds « Elana's Pantry Forums

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Fumigated Almonds

(11 posts)

Started 2 years ago by Anabetica
Latest reply from gks

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Anabetica
Member

Hi! With Elana's encouragement, and the help of this forum (this is GREAT!), I'd like to ask others who use almond flour, if you have been able to locate a source of almond flour that is made from fumigated almonds? I contacted Honeyville Grains, where I've been ordering, and they sent me an email stating that the almonds they use have been POP treated.

Lucy from Lucy's Kitchen believes her source of almond flour only steam treats their almonds. Unfortunately, because of the distance in shipping, it would cost me over $50 more for this flour compared to Honeyville Grain.

I go through flour quickly with 4 children. I'd love any ideas or suggestions. I'm new to the celiac world, what have you all learned about this issue?

Many Thanks,
Betty

Posted 2 years ago #
elana
Key Master

Hi Betty,

Thanks so much for bringing this to everyone's attention! This is such an important topic.

Just to bring others up to speed, unfortunately, regulations were passed in 2007 which stipulated that even ORGANIC RAW almonds be treated with either a PESTICIDE or HEAT (steam -whereby they're not truly raw anymore). I have not found a purveyor yet who doesn't use the pesticide; like you Betty, I definitely think the steam treatment is the way to go.

If you are very serious about finding almonds that have not been sprayed, the next step would be to contact the Almond Board and see if they could give you more info on this, though since they are a trade group their highest priority might actually be protecting the sprayers not connecting consumers with the unsprayed product for which they are looking.

Before spending all that extra money on Lucy's almond flour, I would find out who her purveyor is and give them a call to verify that they are not also spraying the almonds...

Betty -we launched the site 3 days ago and are off to a good start, however it will take a while to build momentum and get more people involved in this conversation. It's a good one though and I am confident that we will hear from others. Thanks for your patience!

Elana

Posted 2 years ago #
Anabetica
Member

Thanks so much Elana! I'm new to this type of eating and I'm still trying to figure out the whole gluten free world. I've had to eliminate grains from my diet and am trying to do that for my children. I don't want to exchange one harmful food for another. I guess right now my choice is limited to the lesser of two evils!

I'm a nurse by trade, promoted to motherhood, and still extremely interested in organic, wholesome foods--foods that don't harm us. I look forward to the conversation and sharing of information that these boards will provide. It's a blessing to have.

Keep it up!
Betty

Posted 2 years ago #
booklegger
Member

I had no idea so thank you for opening my eyes to this. Since when does a chemical spray constitute pausterization?

Posted 2 years ago #
kastel
Member

Hello,

Since when? Since last fall when the almond industry persuaded the USDA to pass a new regulation requiring all "raw" almonds to be pasteurized using one of two "unapproved" methods: a toxic fumigant or steam heat.

There is nothing inherently dangerous about raw almonds, raw spinach or raw tomatoes. If large industrial agriculture would keep contaminated water or animal manure off of our food we wouldn't need their chemicals, irradiation or other technological fixes.

Readers who are interested can find more information the almond issue can visit http://www.cornucopia.org

This is a nice website. Thanks for hosting it!

Mark

Posted 2 years ago #
booklegger
Member

Mark, thank you for the link, I've bookmarked the site. I live in Japan and it's been challenging to keep up with issues like this. The internet has certainly helped but I am consistently amazed by what I learn. I was just speaking to some others who have been making almond milk as a replacement, like me, they had no idea about this fumigation.

Tracey

Posted 2 years ago #
cara
Member

There's one company I've been in touch with that still has whole raw organic almonds that were harvested before that ruling went into effect. Their website is http://www.organicfruitsandnuts.com - if you're interested in those specific almonds, I'd suggest contacting them to make sure they still have some left but last I checked (a month or so ago) they still had quite a bit.

Posted 2 years ago #
zebe912
Member

I just looked at that website and the raw almonds are out of stock until the ruling is lifted. bummer

Posted 2 years ago #
elana
Key Master

Just an update straight from the source regarding almond flour...according to Honeyville their blanched almond flour is pasteurized (steam treated). They are not fumigated.

I received this message directly from Honeyville today:

"I’d like to clarify the pasteurization process, just in case you did not know. As you know, any almond coming out of California must be pasteurized. The Blanched Almond Flour gets a hot water bath to remove the skins that also constitutes the pasteurization process. No chemical process for the Blanched Almonds. I wasn’t sure if you were aware."

That's the scoop straight from Honeyville.

Posted 1 year ago #
Anabetica
Member

I had received the same info recently. I'm so glad to hear this. Right now I'm responding to all grains, among many other foods. Almond is not on the list yet!

Posted 1 year ago #
gks
Member

Hi. For anyone who makes their own almond flour, I do have a source of untreated, truly raw almonds. I have purchased them, and they actually sprout.

http://rawfromthefarm.com/nuts.aspx

Posted 1 year ago #

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