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When I purchase raisins in the US, it is not uncommon that some of the raisins have bits of stem still attached to them. However, when I purchase breakfast cereals with raisins included, I seem to never encounter stems. Clearly there is a difference in how the raisins are processed. But what is that difference?

What about the processing for breakfast cereals make stems so uncommon, and why is that same process not considered for raisins sold alone? Is it the cost of some extra or different processing, or are perhaps all these raisins processed the same but then dividing into low- and high-confidence-no-stems pools, the latter used in breakfast cereals?

Anastasia Zendaya
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jesse
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    I suspect it'll simply be abundance based - most cereals only have a small handful of raisins in the whole box, so you need to eat a lot of boxes to see the the stems. The other thing that might affect it could be just the extra processing in the cereal - it knocks the stems off. These are just guesses though, so I'm not willing to make this an answer. – bob1 May 13 '21 at 01:36
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    There might also be differences in quality assurance requirements. If you're eating raisins by hand, you can easily pull the stems off. If you're eating them with a spoon from a bowl full of cereal and milk, not so much. – nick012000 May 13 '21 at 03:21
  • I'm also just guessing, but if the cereals need stemless raisins and all the raisins are coming from the same vendor, it might stand to reason that if the vendor is kicking out stemless raisins for the cereals what's left over for the bags we buy on the shelf would have a higher (if only slightly higher) ratio of stemmed raisins to stemless raisins. – JBH May 13 '21 at 04:19

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I've noticed a difference between raisin brands in the past. Given my habit of alternating weekly shops between the close/cheap supermarket and the well-stocked one I'd choose to buy them at the better shop, though I've had worse than even that cheaper shop.

From the better shop I find less than one stem in a generous handful of raisins (on my otherwise plain weekday Weetabix), but in the worst ones I've tried I've found a few every day. This all indicates that there's a possibility for variation from some point in the production process.

Given that variation, so long the worst ones aren't added to breakfast cereals, and given the dilution by other ingredients, I'd expect to find very few.

In addition, there's no guarantee you'll find every single one. On weetabix or porridge I've been known to spot a stem only to lose it when it sinks, but then not to find it when eating. In something like granola with its range of textures and harder components I would be more likely to miss an occasional stem.

Chris H
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