Why can I not consume this Indian curry paste raw?

I have here a jar of Patak’s Original Mild Curry Paste, which although yummy, alarms me with the notice (all-caps, boldface), “It is important that this product is not consumed uncooked.”

Of course it should read “that this product not be consumed uncooked,” but let that go. The ingredient list is vegetable oil, spices, salt, water, concentrated tomato puree, garlic powder, corn flour, tamarind, acetic acid, citric acid, lactic acid. Which of these ingredients could be so threatening uncooked, and what horrible consequences will accrue if I should eat it raw?

I guess I never read the label closely enough.

I have eaten it raw before. Go ahead and give it a go and we can start collecting and formulating our data.

I’m wondering if one of the spices involved is asafoetida, which has a nasty sulfur smell and taste if uncooked (I speak from experience, as I used to have a jar of the pure powder), but is really good if cooked. If used in a small enough quantity in the mix, it may not be that noticeable to some, but will improve with cooking. Check the alternate names for the spice at that Wiki article - you can guess which namer had it cooked vs. raw. :smiley:

Their explanation is really valid, too - the spices really gain a lot in flavor by having had time to cook.

Some curry powders have starch in them, for thickening the sauce. Raw starch, while not toxic, can be hard to digest and can upset your stomach.