Are the Almonds Raw or Pasteurized?Updated 2 months ago

We use Regenerative Organic Certified California almonds. California almonds could legally be considered raw, though they are in fact steam-pasteurized, which to many means they are not actually raw according to colloquial understandings of the word.

There was a pasteurization mandate issued by the USDA in 2007 for all almonds grown in CA stating that those almonds must be pasteurized before being resold to the consumer. 

However, it is also important to note that there is no accepted legal or scientific definition of raw. There are thousands of micronutrients, macronutrients, vitamins, minerals, and enzymes, and all of them have different temperatures at which they begin to degrade.

One definition states "A food is considered raw if it has never been heated over 104–118°F (40–48°C). It should also not be refined, pasteurized, treated with pesticides or otherwise processed in any way." According to that definition, our products may not be currently considered raw as they exceed 118F both during dehydration and stone grinding.

Three scientific articles on the subject confirm that: 

1) "Pasteurization did not significantly change total phenols (TP), and ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP), or flavonoids and phenolic acids of almonds.

2) Roasting, oil extraction, and blanching definitely harm nutrient profiles. We are not doing any of these. 

3) Particle size reduction (grinding), which we do, actually leads to greater bioavailability of nutrients. 

4) Sprouting increases the already-high polyphenol content of almonds.