The internet is full of fabulous facts about everything from current events to the history basket weaving and raisin fun facts. As we research for our daily content on food trucks, food carts and street food, we stumble upon some items of knowledge that we just did not know.

We have decided when these fun facts pop up, that we would share them with our readers in our section titled “Did You Know?”

For today’s Did You Know we will look at Raisin fun facts.

Raisin Fun Facts: Raisin – comes from the Latin racemus and means “a cluster of grapes or berries”. It is believed that humans discovered raisins when they happened upon grapes drying on a vine. History books note that raisins were sun-dried from grapes as long ago as 1490 B.C. But several hundred years passed before it was determined which grape variety would make the best raisin.

  • Half of the world’s supply of raisins are grown in California.
  • Raisin colors vary by drying process. For example, a dark purplish/black raisin is sun-dried. A light to medium brown raisin is mechanically dehydrated in special drying tunnels. A golden to bright yellow raisin is mechanically dried and treated with sulfur dioxide to retain color and a green raisin is dried by air in adobe houses.
  • March 24th is National Chocolate Covered Raisin Day.
  • April 5th is National Raisin & Spice Bar Day.
  • April 30th is National Raisin Day.
  • Cool storage is the best way to keep raisins. After the package has been opened they should be put in a sealed container and refrigerated. Raisins will retain their flavor, color, and nutritive value if stored in the refrigerator. They can be kept even longer if frozen. Raisins will thaw quickly at room temperature. If raisins become dry due to improper storage, rinse them in tap water to dissolve the sugar crystals and restore the moisture.
  • California discovered the commercial potential of raisins quite by accident. In 1873, a freak hot spell withered the grapes on the vine. One enterprising San Francisco grocer advertised these shriveled grapes as “Peruvian Delicacies” and the rest is history. California is now the world’s leading producer of raisins.
  • It takes more than 4 tons of grapes to produce 1 ton of raisins.
  • The finest raisins are considered to come from Malaga in Spain.
  • Golden raisins are made by treating the raisins with a lye solution, sometimes with lye and then burning sulfur, and sometimes with sulfur dioxide.
  • Fresno, California is the Raisin Capital of the World.
  • The California Dancing Raisin was introduced in 1984 by the California Raisin Industry marketing staff to increase awareness and demand for California raisins.

Raisin Fun Facts We Missed

Please feel free to let us know if we may have missed some raisin fun facts in the comment section below. If we can verify that the facts is just that, a fact, we will give the reader credit in the article.

Reference: Wikipedia: Fun Facts about Raisins

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