Frozen = Raw? - Raw Food Chat

AllieKat5202 · 06-29-2007

Hi, all,

Are organic frozen fruits like those from Cascadian Farms raw? I'm craving some cranberry juice, but I'm obviously waaaaay out of season.

Thanks.

MamaSutras · 12-08-2007

I was wondering the same thing... so I googled freezing preserving enzymes...

Here is what I got... Freezing does not distroy enzymes in foods, it only slow them (which is why there is a "shelf life" on frozen foods)

However, some foods that are frozen are blanched first... trown it to a pot of boiling water to halt the enzyme process...

I guess I would ask- does the manufacturer blanch the fruit first?

amber

anisha · 12-08-2007

Yes I agree ask the manufacturers!

Also I don't believe freezing is bad....somewhere I heard a person make a good point about 'if scientists can freeze human embryos and continue to make humans out of it, then freezing fruits can hurt.' thats the way i think of it.. ill' try to find that video where he says that.

greenbunny · 12-08-2007

Darn! I never thought of the blanching! I assumed that was only with veggies. Wouldn't putting fruit in heat for even a small time make them just into mush????

Greenbunny

RawFoodGrl · 12-20-2007

This is really interesting!!!

I have been taught that freezing always kills the enzymes, therefore they are not raw. Every raw food book or source I read says this.

If this is not true, this would definitely be helpful! I would love to know the source of the information that indicates freezing (or blanching) can still be raw.

I was taught the 'finger method' - if you can hold your finger in the item (water, soup, etc) and your finger gets warm, but does not burn, then it is in the "raw" range. But once it's hot enough to actually damage (hurt or burn) your finger, that same damage occurs to the food.

So, if you blanch a tomato for 30 seconds to remove the skin - that's OK - provided you can keep your finger in the same water for the full 30 seconds too. It's OK to have warm soup - but if it ever becomes hot enough to burn you, then it's no longer "raw".

Considering how much produce we get during summer months, I would LOVE to be able to freeze things, so I'm extremely curious about this!! But I want to be able to review the information and documentation first.

RawFoodGrl · 12-20-2007

Oh, and my understanding about the freezing and "defrosting" of human embryos and other living tissue is very different than that of vegetables.

It's been a while since medical school, but if I recall correctly, the tissue is brought very quickly to a sub-zero temperature and both frozen and unfrozen under carefully controlled conditions. And carefully stored and monitored while frozen.

These conditions are not in place for vegetables, and in fact are demonstrated by boxes of frozen veggies sitting in warm grocery store aisles while minimum wage employees stuff them into freezer bins, not to mention the repeated opening and closing of the bin doors, not to mention the food is not brought to, nor kept at, the same temperatures as frozen tissue.

I'm not meaning to be negative on this - BELIEVE ME, if we could freeze our over-abundance of summer produce, it would be WONDERFUL.

But all these things are things I know of, have experienced or learned - so I'm extremely curious about the documentation showing frozen food can be considered raw.

sega01 · 12-23-2007

As far as I know, freezing preserves the enzymes perfectly. You could test with seeds by freezing them, and seeing if they will sprout. If a frozen fruit is taken out of the freezer and spoils at a normal pace; it's probably raw. Many frozen vegtables are blanched though; a database of "blanched-or-not" would be quite nice. However, I have heard that some fruit will have a drastic flavor change after being in just the fridge for a while (bananas notably); but I am not sure.

Good luck,
sega01

Double Helix · 12-24-2007

Quote:

Originally Posted by anisha

Also I don't believe freezing is bad....somewhere I heard a person make a good point about 'if scientists can freeze human embryos and continue to make humans out of it, then freezing fruits can hurt.' thats the way i think of it.. ill' try to find that video where he says that.

???

What do you think would happen if you put an embryo in your freezer?

We're talking about using a freezer, not cryogenics here.

Plus, how do we know if there isn't any long term damage with frozen embryos or the like? Makes me think of GMO's - they are messing with our food supply without knowing the long-term side effects.

And yes, frozen fruit is not exactly the same in nutritional value as a fresh one. Have you ever had a frozen and fresh strawberry? The taste is very different. The texture is different, so of course there is some loss in nutrition and the enzymes are compromised.

Frozen is way better than cooked of course, but not as perfect as fresh.

Just take it at your own pace. I use frozen fruit in my shakes, but fully aware that they aren't the most perfect thing in the world.