# Why do prunes get a bad rap? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 28, 2019, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-prunes-get-a-bad-rap/830333 "2019-02-28T13:07:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2019, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-prunes-get-a-bad-rap/830333/41 "2019-03-01T13:33:06Z")
> [@Eclipse\_Chaser](#): > > Worf wouldn’t agree with you! > > “Prune juice! A warrior’s drink!” [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/3SZ8H52p0Zk/hqdefault.jpg "Guinan Give Lt. Worf Prune Juice (warrior drink)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3SZ8H52p0Zk) ---
**Author:** ![TRC4941](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trc4941/32/6792_2.png) [@TRC4941](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TRC4941)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2019, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-prunes-get-a-bad-rap/830333/42 "2019-03-01T15:11:52Z")
All of these posts about stewed prunes is making me queasy! I’ve heard of them, but have never had them or even seen them. What I’m picturing is not appetizing. Are they just heated up? Is anything added? ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2019, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-prunes-get-a-bad-rap/830333/43 "2019-03-01T17:39:36Z")
> [@TRC4941](#): > > All of these posts about stewed prunes is making me queasy! I’ve heard of them, but have never had them or even seen them. What I’m picturing is not appetizing. Are they just heated up? Is anything added? They’re boiled in a bit of water. Done properly, that hydrates them and plumps them up. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2019, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-prunes-get-a-bad-rap/830333/44 "2019-03-01T17:52:55Z")
> [@Yllaria](#): > > Done properly, that hydrates them and plumps them up. So, it basically turns them back into plums? ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2019, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-prunes-get-a-bad-rap/830333/45 "2019-03-01T18:54:37Z")
I have eaten the prunes that were in the pantry and which you were probably saving to stew Forgive me they were gross so sticky-sweet and so slimy ---
**Author:** ![Randolph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Randolph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Randolph)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2019, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-prunes-get-a-bad-rap/830333/46 "2019-03-01T19:34:01Z")
From _Standup Comedian_: > [@Demetri Martin](#): > > I was in the store and I saw prune juice on the shelf. I stopped because I thought, ‘Wait a minute… I thought prunes were dried plums? What the hell is this stuff? How hard are we squeezing these prunes? This is plum juice isn’t it, prunes? This is plum juice.’ Nice try prunes, trying to take plums’ credit. ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2019, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-prunes-get-a-bad-rap/830333/47 "2019-03-01T20:02:15Z")
I don’t know if it’s a Puerto Rican thing or just the fact that mi abuela grew up poor during The Depression, but she used to buy apricot and peach nectar or prune juice and then water them down with a ton of ice in a pitcher, put it in the fridge and that was the kid’s “Koolaid”. I remember it being delicious. ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2019, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-prunes-get-a-bad-rap/830333/48 "2019-03-01T22:42:24Z")
> [@TRC4941](#): > > All of these posts about stewed prunes is making me queasy! I’ve heard of them, but have never had them or even seen them. What I’m picturing is not appetizing. Are they just heated up? Is anything added? Google “stewed prunes” and then scan the images. [Here’s one](https://nanasbestrecipes.com/stewed-prunes/) that has a home-made recipe. They are also sold in cans. Unless you know they are going to be good, I can see why someone would be turned-off to the idea of putting that in your mouth. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2019, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-prunes-get-a-bad-rap/830333/49 "2019-03-02T00:28:30Z")
> [@nelliebly](#): > > What about prune juice? I loved it when I was a kid and had no idea of its laxative properties. I haven’t had any since. In fact, I haven’t SEEN any since. Do people still buy it? A while back, I read about a love triangle gone wrong at a senior-living facility where a man threw a Molotov cocktail into his unfaithful girlfriend’s apartment. She knew who did it, because the bottle he used was HIS brand of prune juice. 😛 My parents drink it, and my dad NEEDS the laxative effect due to diverticulitis. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2019, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-prunes-get-a-bad-rap/830333/50 "2019-03-02T02:08:21Z")
I love dried fruits of any kind (except banana I actually cracked a tooth on one, once) I can hardly fit them in my T1 diet. They are excessively sweet. Prunes are like a candy, in my world. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2019, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-prunes-get-a-bad-rap/830333/51 "2019-03-02T02:40:51Z")
I would love to have a couple of Sunmaid pitted prunes after reading this thread, but it’s way too much sugar for me. ---
**Author:** ![Jeff\_Lichtman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeff_lichtman/32/1531_2.png) [@Jeff\_Lichtman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeff_Lichtman)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2019, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-prunes-get-a-bad-rap/830333/52 "2019-03-02T02:47:42Z")
A prune is actually a type of plum, not just any dried plum. Prunes have a high sugar content and a pit that readily separates from the fruit. These types of plums are called prunes even when they’re not dried, which is why prune juice isn’t an oxymoron. Produce markets sometimes carry fresh (i.e. undried) Italian or French prunes (the two most common varieties). Some time ago the California Prune Marketing Board changed their name to the California Dried Plum Board. I think at about the same time the Sunsweet company started selling prunes as “dried plums.” It didn’t last. They switched back to calling them prunes before too long. My guess is that it hurt sales to people who really wanted prunes, and didn’t improve sales to people who wanted to avoid prunes. You can sometimes find non-prune plums sold as dried fruit. They’re much less sweet than prunes, and tend to be chewier. ---
**Author:** ![Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kolak_of_twilo/32/73_2.png) [@Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolak_of_Twilo)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2019, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-prunes-get-a-bad-rap/830333/53 "2019-03-02T04:17:57Z")
I simply won’t eat wrinkled fruit. ---
**Author:** ![Carryon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9fc29f/32.png) [@Carryon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carryon)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2019, 10:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-prunes-get-a-bad-rap/830333/54 "2019-03-02T10:00:23Z")
They are better than raisins which truly ruin everything. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2019, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-prunes-get-a-bad-rap/830333/55 "2019-03-02T12:36:31Z")
Purely by coincidence, my gf bought a half dozen Paczki with prune lekvar filling. Delicious! ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2019, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-prunes-get-a-bad-rap/830333/56 "2019-03-02T13:34:03Z")
The connection between prunes and diarrhea ruin them for me. Fresh figs have the same problem. My grandfather had a fig tree. I loved eating them ripe, and freshly picked off the tree. Until the consequences hit me. :eek: From then on, I only ate grandmother’s fig preserves. No more raw figs for me. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2019, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-prunes-get-a-bad-rap/830333/57 "2019-03-02T15:28:26Z")
> [@Jeff\_Lichtman](#): > > A prune is actually a type of plum, not just any dried plum. Prunes have a high sugar content and a pit that readily separates from the fruit. These types of plums are called prunes even when they’re not dried, which is why prune juice isn’t an oxymoron. Produce markets sometimes carry fresh (i.e. undried) Italian or French prunes (the two most common varieties). I did not know that! ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2019, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-prunes-get-a-bad-rap/830333/58 "2019-03-02T22:19:20Z")
They’re quite yummy before they’re dried, too! Also sometimes just sold as “prune plums”. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2019, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-prunes-get-a-bad-rap/830333/59 "2019-03-02T22:29:08Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Sunsweet apparently tried to change the perception of Prunes back in the 1960s. I > He also did this one with Ray Bradbury (!!) Wall to wall Tv- yep, we got 'em. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-prunes-get-a-bad-rap/830333.md?page=2)