1) almond milk, banana, 3 pears, kale, agave, Omega 369 oil, Barlean’s greens, frozen cherries

2) juice of 4 pears, avocado, banana, Omega 369 oil, Barlean’s greens, kale, frozen blueberries

I was looking through a raw food recipe book* from the library on Saturday and read, once again, about the pasteurisation of almonds. This came into force a couple of years ago and whilst I heard about it at the time I continued to buy almonds. Of course, they are not truly raw as they have been subjected to high heat – all because of a few cases of salmonella in some non-organic almonds.

This pisses me off for a number of reasons. When I think of the thousands of cases of food poisoning that have undoubtedly occurred from eating animal products that are glossed over by the powers-that-be, it makes me wonder why such Draconian measures are not taken for chickens and other salmonella- or E-coli-infested meats on the supermarket shelf.

I still think we should have a choice between truly raw, and pasteurised almonds.

The book I was reading mentioned a treatment that the almonds are subjected to that’s called propylene oxide, “a former insecticidal fumigant and racing fuel that is banned in many countries throughout the world, and is classified by the EPA as a probable human carcinogen.”

This shines a new light on the pasteurisation process and its potential for harm. I just bought another five kilos of almonds from my local bulk food store. I guess I’ll use them up and in the meantime check out other types of nut for my home-made milk, snacks and energy bars.

* Living Raw Food by Sarma Melngailis