Raw Status of Some Common “Raw” Foods

PRODUCT	BRAND/STORE	STATUS	NOTES
Almonds	Trader Joe’s		Now raw again. They were pasteurized for a while.
Almonds, dried	~Generally~		Usually raw. Seem to always sprout.
Aminos, Liquid	Bragg		Processing temperature does not exceed 90ºF. May contain MSG.
Carob Powder	Nature’s Best		Labeled “Raw”, is actually lightly roasted.
Cashews	~Generally~		Generally not raw.  They are usually picked green and must be steamed to get them out of the shell.
Cayenne Powder	FrontierTM Herbs		Dried anywhere from 90 to 165ºF.
Cornmeal, Blue	Arrowhead Mills		Processed at low temperature. Contains whole kernel corn.
Dates	~Generally~		Usually raw. They are often frozen in the off-season to keep them moist.
Dates, Deglet, pitted	~Generally~		Usually steamed for 2-7 hours to rehydrate them. Steamed dates tend to be unusually glossy in appearance.
Macadamia Nuts	Trader Joe’s		Dried at 100-105ºF.
Maple Syrup	~All~		Thoroughly cooked.
Miso	~All~		Cooked and then cultured. Live but not raw. May contain MSG.
Nama Shoyu	Ohsawa®		Cooked and then cultured. Live but not raw. May contain MSG.
Nuts (large fatty seeds), dried	~Generally~		Generally about half are raw. The rest are dried at about 145ºF. Fresh nuts can usually be obtained when in season.  Raw nuts are dried in ambient air or placed in a room with a dehumidifier.
Oil, “cold-pressed”	~Generally~		The “Cold-pressed” labeling requirement means only that the pressing temperature did not exceed 150º F. Of course, some say that oil does not contain enzymes anyway, so that as long as it is not heated excessively, oil should be oil.
Peanuts, dried	Berkeley Bowl		90% sprouted in personal test.
Seeds (small fatty), dried	~Generally~		Usually raw. Small seeds dry easily in ambient air.
Sunflower Seeds	Trader Joe’s		Dried in ambient air.
Vanilla Beans, sun-dried	~Generally~		Usually steamed, put in boiling water or put in hot water before the drying process to keep the beans from rotting. Rawguru.com supposedly has truly raw vanilla beans from Africa. They have not responded to multiple e-mails inquiring about the validity of this statement.
Walnuts	Trader Joe’s		Dried at 100-105ºF.

 Raw      Sometimes Cooked      Cooked    

Frozen: Some say that freezing does not kill enzymes, but that enzymes begin to die off when the frozen food returns to room temperature.