Are Dates And Other Dried Fruit Sterilized Before Packaging?

BaconBits

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Apr 26, 2013
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I see people like dates around here but I have this fear of dried fruit.

I remember my family drying fruit a long time ago and the figs were left on a newspaper and a billion flies and wasps flying around and I thinks thats nasty.

I dont really know the industrial process for drying things like dates, but are they insect free.
 

pboy

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Jan 22, 2013
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sometimes they are washed, but Ive found plenty of dirt, and other patriculates amongst dried fruit, especially organic foreign fruit. Though it was never enough to make me not want to eat it. I prefer for digestive purposes to soak and rinse the fruit first, which also gets rid of anything on the skin. Peeling is even better but it can be tricky with dried fruits. Most non organic dried fruit has sulfur added, or is irradiated...which would remove any harmful bacteria and yeast, but also could be harsh on digestion (the sufites can initiate a histamine response)...organic fruit is generally just sun dried...some companies claim to wash the fruit as well but it doesn't seem that's always the case. Raisins, strangely enough, are almost always clean, but dates, figs, berries...may have some particles. If you're concerned wash, rinse, soak, or boil the fruit to help it go down smooth
 
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BaconBits

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Apr 26, 2013
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pboy said:
sometimes they are washed, but Ive found plenty of dirt, and other patriculates amongst dried fruit, especially organic foreign fruit. Though it was never enough to make me not want to eat it. I prefer for digestive purposes to soak and rinse the fruit first, which also gets rid of anything on the skin. Peeling is even better but it can be tricky with dried fruits. Most non organic dried fruit has sulfur added, or is irradiated...which would remove any harmful bacteria and yeast, but also could be harsh on digestion (the sufites can initiate a histamine response)...organic fruit is generally just sun dried...some companies claim to wash the fruit as well but it doesn't seem that's always the case. Raisins, strangely enough, are almost always clean, but dates, figs, berries...may have some particles. If you're concerned wash, rinse, soak, or boil the fruit to help it go down smooth

I somehow still cant take the image od dried figs covered with thousand flies from my mind, that are also"pooping" in them and probably lying eggs. I know bacteria die when dried out, but the worm eggs like roundworm or pinworm are not affected by drying. Washing is just not enough.

But irradiation would do the job, is all dried fruit in EU irradiated? But a question comes to mind, does this makes the dried fruit toxic?
 
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Dutchie

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Nov 21, 2012
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I only eat fresh Medjool dates,but i do know the dried dates/fruit over here are treated with glucosesyrup and/or sunfloweroil to make them more shiny.

Btw arent dried and fresh figs high in pufas bc of those tiny seeds? Btw,over here mostly turkish groceryshops a/so sell date,fig and apricotpaste.
 
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