Bought some dried blueberries from Costco Canada yesterday to make port. It says on the package contains blueberries, sugar and sunflower oil. MAY contain peanuts, tree nuts, wheat, soy, milk and eggs. Is the "MAY" because it comes from a plant that processes these things or it probably does contain some of them? Red flags went up and I haven't opened them yet. Any input on this?' Has anyone used something like this before?
Dried blueberries
- Thread starter Wineart
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franc1969
Senior Member
From knowledge related to wheat allergy/gluten intolerance, this is to cover their butts on shared equipment and is law in many cases. The items or recipes themselves do not have any of those items, but a lawsuit would be devastating to the company.
Although if you are absolutely intolerant to cross contamination, like as a celiac person, I would not.
The sunflower oil may be a problem for the yeast. The "oil" part may coat the cell membrane and essentially suffocate the yeast. Hard to tell what would happen. It all depends on just how much oil was used.
An option if wanting to try it, the fruit will need to be hydrated first anyway. I suggest covering with just enough water and bring the pot up to about 150*F to 175*F, stir a bit, then let cool. Any oil will float and can be skimmed off with paper towels.
Ohio Bob
Senior Member
That’s a great idea. I would test on just a handful of berries. Especially if you have no reason to believe there is sunflower oil in your fruit. The higher temperature might give a baked flavor to the wine.
I would empty the bag by hand, then collect any “dust” from the empty bag. If there was any foreign material on the fruit you will see it here too. Boil this dust too to see what happens.
I was looking for dried currants and a lot of brands add sunflower oil so the fruit doesn't stick together into a clump. I bought a brand without sunflower oil added as I was afraid my wine would have an oil slick on it.
* a typical specification might be maximum one contrasting particle in a 1000 gram product sample. Most samples going through QA will come out clean. ie the actual contamination level is very low, but is is impossible to clean every nook and cranny. Also product comming into a plant has been in the world so there will be harvest related and other plant material in a specification. Current optical sorting equipment can reduce defects below what would have been done with a 1940s human processing line.
* oil in a low moisture environment can produce oxidized flavors (painty). As long as the humidity is at 50% the oil isn’t very reactive. ,,, And wine can be assumed to have 100% humidity so peroxides get soaked up. Is the flavor pleasing when you start? If not don’t use it.
* oil level is low, it is unlikely you could recover significant oil by washing. It is unlikely you would have a slick in an alcohol (oil is soluble in alcohol). The QA lab test is to extract with petroleum ether and then weigh the residue with a balance accurate to 0.001 gram.
* oil in a low moisture environment can produce oxidized flavors (painty). As long as the humidity is at 50% the oil isn’t very reactive. ,,, And wine can be assumed to have 100% humidity so peroxides get soaked up. Is the flavor pleasing when you start? If not don’t use it.
* oil level is low, it is unlikely you could recover significant oil by washing. It is unlikely you would have a slick in an alcohol (oil is soluble in alcohol). The QA lab test is to extract with petroleum ether and then weigh the residue with a balance accurate to 0.001 gram.
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