I just ran into this when I was shopping for nuts... (I guess I'm about 1 year behind the times)
Truly raw almonds now come primarily from Spain.
It's also noted that pasteurized almonds can be labeled as "raw" - any reputable health food company will accurately label their products however.
In order to provide the assurance to consumers that the California almond industry is taking every precaution to provide the safest, highest quality almonds in the world, almond suppliers must have the certainty that all almonds reaching consumers have undergone a minimum 4-log reduction treatment. Therefore, pasteurization at the handler level is required on shipments of raw almonds with the following exemptions: (1) shipments of untreated almonds directly to approved Direct Verifiable (DV) users within North America (U.S., Canada & Mexico which must be labeled as “unpasteurized” on all bulk packaging (e.g. cartons, boxes, tote bags, etc.) and (2) shipments to export markets not within North America which must be labeled as “unpasteurized” on all bulk packaging (e.g. cartons, boxes, tote bags, etc.) . In this way all customers of California almonds, worldwide, will either receive pasteurized product or will be advised through labeling that the product they are receiving is unpasteurized and requires further treatment.
