Some Raw Nuts Are Always Heated

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<a href=http://www.living-foods.com/articles/nuts.html

target=new>http://www.living-foods.com/articles/nuts.html</a><br><br>All cashews

labeled 'raw' are actually heated, the

heating is necessary to remove a substance that would

cause severe blistering on your lips.<br><br>Brazil and

pecans that have been shelled are also always

heated.<br><br>The above excellent article gives the details on how

the major nuts are processed. For each nut it

describes whether any heat is used and if a nut is still

sproutable.<br><br>I spent several hours, recently, researching this

very topic at a library by looking at a number of

books that expain the details of how nuts are

processed. While the article at the above link is well

researched i must give a warning considering the information

it contains. The different books i looked at

actually had some disagreements about which nuts always

were heated during their processing. While many nut

farmers use simlar methods there still are some

differences from farmer to farmer. In other words, even

though it may not be necessary for a farmer to remove

nuts from their shells or even to sell the nuts in

their shells, some or many farmers still use heat

anyway. Also, for nuts grown in other countries the

processing methods may differ from in the U.S. <br><br>Many

cashew farmers use a method to remove the poisonous

substance from cashews that often results in the cashew

workers themselves gettng burned in the process. The

cashew workers are often treated with the same disregard

for their health as are sweatshop workers in many

third world countries. Think about that the next time

you eat a cashew. <br><br>Therefore, when you read

the table at the bottom of the article and see the

'A' ratings for nuts that are still 'viable' and

sproutable, do not assume that these nuts are definitely not

heated. <br><br>The only way you can ever be postive

about this is to ask the farmer that grew the nuts if

any heat has been used during the processing. Smaller

farmers that mainly distribute their nuts to health food

stores or sell them directly at farmers markets are more

lkely to give you an answer than a big commercial

grower would.<br><br>Judging from the books i looked at,

there is much much less information available

concerning the processing of seeds than there is concerning

the process of nuts. <br><br>There is one nut company

in Santa Cruz, CA that distributes a line of

different nut and seed butters to health food stores in

California. The lablels on their nut butters are very

informative. They say which of their nuts and seed butters are

made from sprouted nuts and seeds and which have been

heated. Their products are always kept in the cold

sections of the health food stores.