FAQs

Sunsweet has farming relationships in California, Chile, Argentina, and Australia, but all of our processing takes place at our 22-acre factory in Yuba City, California, the largest dried plum processing facility in the world.

Sunsweet Ingredients are sold to professionals in the food industry and foodservice fields. For consumer products and recipes for home cooking, please visit Sunsweet.com

Fresh Plum Concentrate, Dried Plum Powder, and Dried Plum Puree are approved to be used as binders for meat and poultry in the United States. According to the USDA’s Table of Safe and Suitable Ingredients under Binders, these three ingredients can be added at levels of up to 2% of the total product formulation when used for moisture binding. This limit does not apply when the ingredients are used as a flavor component.

The Food Directorate at Health Canada considers Fresh Plum Concentrate a “non-additive food ingredient” in meat and poultry products. For specifics on how non-additive food ingredients can be used in meat and poultry products, consult the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) guidelines. We also recommend asking the CFIA for guidance on food labelling requirements. 

The sugar content of a prune is 40% lower than raisins and 50% lower than dried cranberries. Yet prunes still taste sweet because 20% of their sweetness comes from sorbitol, a sugar alcohol, which is not included in the calculations for sugars or calories. In addition, the natural acidity of the fruit draws out sweetness.

Prunes can mimic the richness of fats in baking: the prune’s fiber and sorbitol bind water and interrupt gluten networks. For example, when Dried Plum Puree is used in cake batter in place of butter or oil, it results in a cake that is moist and tender but with fewer calories. With meat and poultry items, prune puree, concentrate, or powder can help retain moisture. Lean beef, lamb, or turkey burgers taste more decadent with Dried Plum Puree blended into the ground protein.

For almost all recipes that have been modified to incorporate plum ingredients, it is also necessary to reduce salt to achieve the right balance of flavor. An example is with barbecue sauces. In formulations with Sunsweet Ingredients, sodium levels were reduced between 30 to 70%. Prunes naturally draw out flavor, thanks to organic acids, mostly malic and quinic, which make up about 1.5% of the ingredients.

Sunsweet Ingredients help with moisture retention in proteins such as beef, lamb, pork, chicken, and turkey, allowing them to take the place of phosphates or other moisture binding ingredients in certain applications. Sunsweet Ingredients also naturally enhance browning, enabling the elimination of caramel coloring in certain products.

Yes, all of our ingredients are made from non-GMO prunes.

Sunsweet Ingredients are certified Triangle K Kosher and Pareve