So, youou’ve fallen in love with a great product, evangelized all your friends about its MUST BUY status, and then your trusty little company gets snapped up by a big corporation. We all know the rest of that story, and it ain’t no fairy tale. So when a reader first mentioned Bubbies might be “lightly pasteurizing” their products, I figured they’d gone the way of so many other brands.
Well, I’m happy to report that Bubbies is still legit. They are flash heating their sauerkraut, but in this case flashing is a good thing. Because otherwise, the jars might explode.
Here’s what Karon over at Bubbies had to say:
Our Pure Kosher Dills, Dill Relish, Pickled Green Tomatoes and Sauerkraut are all naturally fermented and cured in salt water brine using a lacto-fermentation process. These products contain live cultures and the enzymes that form from a natural fermentation.
The Pure Kosher Dills, Dill Relish and Pickled Green Tomatoes are 100% raw; the Sauerkraut in the jars has been flash heated but not pasteurized. This means that the sauerkraut is neither pasteurized nor raw. Bubbies Sauerkraut is heated in a steam bath bottle wash after the product has been sealed in the jar, and this does not kill off all the cultures, but rather just some of them that are producing the bulk of the carbon dioxide gas at that stage of the fermentation.
See AlsoPasteurised Vs Unpasteurised Sauerkraut: How Heating Destroys Good BacWhat are the Richest Food Sources of Vitamin K2?The hottest of the jars reach 130-140 degrees – no higher; the result is an approximate 10% decrease in culture content vs. a raw sample; but a product that will not continue to give off gas once sealed in the jar. Without the heating our Sauerkraut will continue to ferment in the refrigerator resulting in bulging lids, leaking jars and a big mess within the distribution to retailer to customer chain. (emphasis mine)
Nutrient dense, probiotic rich foods are a VITAL part of our diet (here’s why), but I don’t always have the time to make them by hand. I can live with a 10% decrease for the sake of convenience, how about you?
MORE Good News!
Sorry to go all infomercially on you, but they have Pickled Green Tomatoes, people! Whole Foods, you have been holding out on me!!!
On another note, have you ever wondered what kind of salt they use? Since I had Karon on the line I decided to ask, thinking surely they cut corners and use the cheap stuff. Nope! They use something very similar to Real Salt, which contains the trace minerals we all need. So good for you!
No worries about fluoride, either, because they culture their foods with artesian well water. Three thumbs up!! Hmmm, I seem to have miscalculated there. Can I borrow one of yours?
Well, there you have it. Not exactly investigative reporting, but at least you Bubbies lovers can a little sleep easier tonight! And if you’ve never given them a try, pack some for a weekend picnic! Yummo!
