Well, I suppose I should have asked more questions, I will pose another-how do you pasteurize. However, mean time, my gut feeling was right it looks like-there is nothing toxic in this particular almond butter. This is so interesting, as eating this product made me feel very different than other brands or eating other brands of organic almonds. And, I could not udnerstand why. Now I do!
Dear M. Brizman,
Thank you for taking the time to contact us regarding our MaraNatha® Products. We apologize for the delay in our reply and appreciate your patience.
We don’t use propylene glycol to process our MaraNatha® Almond Butters.
Thank you for your continued support. If we can be of further assistance, please feel free to contact us at 1-800-434-4246, Monday through Friday from 9AM - 7PM Eastern Time.
Logan
Customer Care Representative
Comments
Here's a link on best and
Here's a link on best and worst almond butters and within the same company like MaraNatha, Artisana, Trader Joe's, etc. if anyone is interested.
http://www.evolvingwellness.com/essay/how-to-choose-the-best-almond-butt...
I was trying to find more regarding pasteurization techniques and found a review from Artisana Raw Organic Nut Butter and had a great description of the steaming process to maintain integrity of the meat with only disinfecting the outside and appears to be the same method MaraNatha uses. If interested here is the Amazon review where the company describes the process in more detail.
http://www.amazon.com/Artisana-Organic-Raw-Almond-Butter/product-reviews...
How does pasteurization affect MaraNatha's Raw Almond Butters?
The pasteurization method used for our almonds employs moisture from steam to kill surface bacteria that might reside on the almond skin. This extremely rapid process requires less than one minute and does not heat the internal almond meat. The Almond Board of California has conducted extensive testing on the impact that this quick treatment has on the nutritional value of the almonds and has determined that the raw almond characteristics remain unchanged. This finding has also been confirmed by independent laboratory analyses of pasteurized and unpasteurized almonds, which showed no degradation of the nutritional value of almonds after treatment.
It should be noted that raw is not a regulated term and we do not wish to mislead consumers who are following a strict raw-eating plan. At MaraNatha we make our raw almond butter using the almond industry's definition for raw, which calls for the use of almonds that are not roasted prior to grinding. More information on this subject can be found earlier in this FAQ.
http://www.maranathafoods.com/health-facts/nut-butter-faqs