July 2016: California Prunes is delighted with a new independent review of scientific literature just published online in the International Journal of Food Sciences and Nutrition, which casts doubt on the common perception that eating dried fruit can cause problems with dental health.
The review undertaken by Dr Michele Sadler, a registered nutritionist concludes that current advice - which suggests that eating dried fruit should be restricted to mealtimes because of concerns about its adverse effects on dental health - is ill-founded and premature. It is based on only weak evidence with a lack of good quality scientific data to substantiate such concrete advice.
The review also highlights a number of potential reasons by which eating traditional dried fruit (to which no sugars are added during the drying process, e.g. prunes) might be a positive for dental health. For example, prunes contain relatively high levels of sorbitol(1) and a health claim...