Cashew nuts, roasted, unsalted (raw?, organic?)

Cashew nuts ( Anacardium occidentale L.) are also available roasted, but even unroasted ones are not really raw. When buying cashew nuts, look for organic production and fair trade conditions.

Use in the kitchen

Roasted, unsalted cashew nuts are a great snack to nibble on. Their pleasant, sweet, nutty taste can tempt you to overeat them. Roasting enhances the cashew flavor, but also has adverse health effects.

Salted, spiced or sugared cashews are also available commercially.

Cashews are used in muesli or in salads, curries, pesto, rice, pasta and Asian stir-fries. Finely ground, they are used to make vegan cheese, cashew butter, cashew "milk", sauces or desserts. Cashew nuts (not cashew nuts) are particularly popular with vegans. Raw foodists should prefer other nuts, as cashews are never raw and have a very unfavorable fatty acid profile. From a nutritional point of view, it is advisable to replace some of the cashews in recipes that contain large amounts of cashews with macadamia nuts, as they have a better fatty acid profile. Where the taste suits them, they can also be replaced with ground or crushed hemp, linseed or chia seeds.

Making your own roasted cashew nuts

Roasted cashew nuts are easy to make yourself in a frying pan or in the oven.

Heat a non-stick frying pan over medium heat. Add the cashews to the pan and roast them for a few minutes (without oil), turning them regularly until they reach the desired brown color.

The oven is ideal for larger portions. Preheat the oven to 180°C. Line a baking tray with baking paper and spread the cashews on it. The kernels should not lie on top of each other and should be roasted in the oven for around 15-20 minutes. You should turn them several times so that they don't burn. As soon as the kernels are the desired shade of brown, remove the baking tray and allow the cashews to cool.

Be aware of the Maillard reaction that occurs and the associated harmful substances that are produced at temperatures above 120 °C. ¹³

Vegan recipe for rainbow salad with roasted cashews

Ingredients (2 servings): 2 tomatoes, 1 cucumber, 2 carrots, 1 yellow bell pepper, 100 g red cabbage, 100 g baby spinach, 1 small onion, 1 ripe avocado, 1 tbsp lemon juice, 1 tbsp mustard, 1 handful of alfalfa sprouts (or mung bean sprouts), 2 tbsp roasted cashews.

Preparation: Wash all ingredients up to and including the red cabbage and drain well. Dice the tomatoes and cucumber and cut the carrots into thin strips. Remove the seeds from the yellow bell peppers and cut into cubes. Halve the red cabbage, remove the stalk and cut into thin strips. Put everything in a large salad bowl together with the baby spinach. Peel the onion and chop roughly. Put the flesh of an avocado, lemon juice and mustard in a blender and puree. Add the onion and puree again. Mix the sauce into the salad, divide between plates and garnish with sprouts and roasted cashews.

Vegan recipes with roasted cashews can be found under the note: " Recipes that have the most of this ingredient ".

Purchasing - Storage

Roasted cashews are available unsalted, salted, seasoned or sweetened in supermarket chains such as Coop, Migros, Denner, Volg, Spar, Aldi, Lidl, Rewe, Edeka, Billa or Hofer, sometimes also in organic quality. Organic cashews are available in well-stocked markets, organic supermarkets ( Denn's Biomarkt or Alnatura), health food stores or drugstores. If the cashews have dark spots or are broken, this means that they are of inferior quality.

Unroasted cashews, often touted as "raw" or "natural," are not raw. Truly raw cashews are not available commercially because they are heat-treated after harvesting to deactivate toxic oils in the shell. In addition, the high heat makes it easier to open the very hard shell.

The production process of cashew nuts requires a lot of manual work and takes place under conditions that are harmful to health. When buying cashew nuts, make sure that they are fairly traded products (e.g. Fairtrade) and come from controlled organic farming.

In the DA-CH countries, cashew nuts are available all year round thanks to long-distance imports. The local season varies depending on the country of cultivation.

The availability of cashew nuts varies depending on the size of the store, catchment area, etc. Our recorded food prices for the DA-CH countries can be found above under the ingredient image - and by clicking on them you can see their development at various suppliers.

Storage tips

Cashew nuts will last for several months in a cool, dry place, protected from light and hermetically sealed. Chopped nuts are best stored in the refrigerator, well sealed. This prevents mold formation and premature spoilage due to oxidation. Freezing increases the shelf life to up to 12 months. Spoiled nuts taste unpleasantly rancid. ⁹

Ingredients - Nutritional values - Calories

Roasted cashews have an energy content of 574 kcal/100g due to their high content of fats, carbohydrates and proteins. ¹

From a nutritional point of view, cashews have a very unfavorable fatty acid profile. They contain relatively high levels of essential omega-6 fatty acids (linoleic acid, LA : 7.7 g/100g = 77% of the daily requirement) and very low levels of essential omega-3 fatty acids (alpha-linolenic acid, ALA). The LA:ALA ratio is at least 48:1 and sometimes goes up to 130:1. Peanuts have an even more unfavorable ratio of 160:1. ¹

They also provide larger amounts of the essential amino acid tryptophan (0.24 g/100g). Higher amounts are found in sesame (0.39 mg/100g) or unpeeled hemp seeds (0.37 mg/100g). ¹

Cashew nuts contain a high concentration of magnesium, at 260 mg/100g. In comparison, hemp seeds contain 700 mg, flax seeds 392 mg and sesame seeds 351 mg/100g. ¹

The complete ingredients of roasted cashew nuts, the coverage of the daily requirement and comparison values with other ingredients can be found in our nutrient tables. In the article Nutrients explained you will get a detailed insight into the topic.

Effects on health

Are cashew nuts healthy? Cashew nuts contain more omega-6 fatty acids (linoleic acid, LA) than omega-3 fatty acids (alpha-linolenic acid, ALA). A diet with a high proportion of omega-6 fatty acids (LA) and a low proportion of omega-3 fatty acids (ALA) promotes long-term inflammatory processes, thrombosis and constricts blood vessels and bronchi. There is also evidence that an unfavorable ratio leads to more atherosclerotic diseases. ^19,21 A diet common in the western world shows an average ratio of 10:1. ¹⁹

Since the pro-inflammatory LA and the anti-inflammatory ALA use the same enzymes for conversion, they are in direct competition. According to Dr. Michael Greger, the ideal omega-6 to omega-3 ratio would be 1:1 in order to maintain a balance between the two conversion processes in the body. The guidelines of the Federal Nutrition Commission (EEK) are less strict and recommend reducing the ratio to at least 5:1. The smaller the ratio, the higher the conversion rate into the anti-inflammatory, long-chain omega-3 fatty acids ( EPA eicosapentaenoic acid and DHA docosahexaenoic acid). ^19,20

Vegans and vegetarians show a ratio of 14:1 to 20:1 or higher - largely because of the popularity of cashews, peanuts, hazelnuts, almonds, sunflower seeds and vegetable oils. ²³ Misinformed or uninformed vegans and vegetarians often eat less healthily than normal eaters - and a study is sure to come out that will ruthlessly expose this. This could stop the vegan hype, which is so important for animal welfare and the environment, and discredit the oriented minority. This has been our fear since 2014! See what happened with raw food: The Giessen raw food study.

Only eat omega-6-rich seeds, nuts and vegetable oils in small quantities and provide your body with sufficient omega-3 fatty acids, for example through linseed (22.8 g/100g), chia seeds (17.8 g/100g), walnuts or tree nuts (9.1 g/100g), rapeseed oil (9.1 g/100g), unpeeled hemp seeds (8.7 g/100g), leafy vegetables or herbs. The foods listed are rich in omega-3 fatty acids and/or have a particularly good ratio to omega-6 fatty acids. ^1,19

Cashew nuts eaten in small amounts and irregularly probably do not have too many negative effects on a generally healthy diet. However, calling them a superfood is misleading because of the unfavorable fatty acid ratio.

Dangers - Intolerances - Side effects

Some people are allergic to cashews. The number of cases increases with the consumption of cashews. Even small amounts can cause allergic reactions, comparable to walnut or peanut allergies. Cross-allergies have been found between cashews and pistachios, both of which belong to the Anacardiaceae family. Symptoms include skin lesions, respiratory and gastrointestinal complaints or, in the worst case, anaphylactic shock. ¹²

Which is healthier, "raw" or roasted cashews? Due to the high temperatures used when roasting cashews, the so-called Maillard reaction occurs, a non-enzymatic browning reaction. During roasting, amino acids (components of proteins) react with sugar, which leads to browning and the formation of new compounds (so-called melanoidins). Although the new compounds intensify the taste, they also have a potentially mutagenic and carcinogenic effect, such as acrylamide. ¹³ Therefore, unroasted, raw nuts are generally healthier. However, raw cashews are not really raw.

Ecological footprint - animal welfare

The CO ₂ footprint is primarily used to assess the climate friendliness of a food. This depends on various aspects such as cultivation method (conventional/organic), seasonality, country of origin, processing, transport and, if applicable, packaging. CarbonCloud puts the CO ₂ footprint for Vietnamese cashews at 36.7 kg CO ₂ eq/kg. In comparison, almonds have a much lower footprint at 2.47 kg CO ₂ eq/kg and walnuts at 0.70 kg CO ₂ eq/kg. ² The values can vary considerably; the Danish climate database Concito shows values of 9.94 kg CO ₂ eq/kg for roasted cashews and 4.83 kg CO ₂ eq/kg for walnuts. ²²

Cashew nuts have an average water footprint of 14,218 l/kg, comparable to shelled almonds (16,095 l/kg) and shelled walnuts (9,280 l/kg). Flaxseeds (5,168 l/kg), shelled peanuts (3,974 l/kg) and sunflower seeds (3,366 l/kg) show a significantly lower consumption. ¹⁰ Nuts (9,064 l/kg) have a high water footprint, as do spices (7,048 l/kg), while vegetables (322 l/kg) and fruits (967 l/kg) require much less water. ¹⁰

For detailed explanations of various sustainability indicators (such as ecological footprint, _CO2 footprint, water footprint), see our article: What does the ecological footprint mean?

In addition to its large ecological footprint, the production of cashew nuts is also criticized because of the processing methods that are harmful to health. The increasing cultivation of cashews also leads to deforestation, loss of biodiversity and soil contamination by pesticides. ¹¹

Worldwide occurrence - cultivation

The genetic center of cashews ( Anacardium occidentale L.) is in the north and northeast of Brazil. ¹⁴ The Spanish spread the cashew tree to Central America, the Portuguese to East Africa, India and Southeast Asia. It is now cultivated in all tropical countries, especially in Africa and in areas from India to Vietnam. ⁷

According to the FAO, global cashew production in 2022 was around 3.85 million tonnes. The main growing areas were Ivory Coast (970,000 tonnes), India (752,000 tonnes) and Vietnam (341,680 tonnes). ¹⁵

Information on cultivation and harvesting can be found under the ingredient Cashew nuts (raw?).

Industrial production

The (semi-)industrial production of cashew nuts varies depending on the supplier.

Cashew nuts go through complex processing phases before they can be eaten. In addition to manual work, which requires a great deal of sensitivity and skill, there are also processes that are harmful to health. Consumers must be aware of the conditions under which production takes place. This video on the production of cashew nuts shows the complex manufacturing process, which is almost 100% manual. ¹⁶

Cashew shell oil is toxic and causes severe burns in the mucous membranes if it comes into direct contact with the skin or is inhaled. At high temperatures, the shell bursts open relatively quickly and you can get to the kernel. To do this, the cashews are boiled, steamed or roasted in appropriate containers. However, this process is also associated with health risks: the toxic oil they contain produces black smoke with caustic fumes during the heating process (approx. 190 °C). In India, for example, the kernels are roasted in flat plates over the fire together with the shell. This dissolves the cashew shell oil. The smoke is highly caustic and irritates the eyes, nose and skin. ^16,17

Even after heating the kernels, there may still be traces of oil, which is why workers have to wear gloves. However, the rubber dissolves very easily due to the caustic oil. Workers often rub their hands with lime, ash, linseed or castor oil to minimize inflammation. ¹⁷

After a 24-hour drying phase in the shade, the outer shell can sometimes be opened by hand. In practice, a special device is helpful. It resembles a nutcracker that is operated with a foot pedal. To do this, you place the nut between the sharp blades of the device and split the shell. There are also mechanical methods, but the risk of breakage is much greater. Here, too, there is still the risk of residues of the corrosive shell oil. ¹⁶

Since the demand for white cashews is the highest, the dark, thin skin (testa) around the edible cashew kernel has to be removed in a further step. To make this process easier, the cashew kernels are dried again. This process also serves as protection against fungal infestation. In this state, the kernels are particularly sensitive, which is why peeling them by hand is the most common method. ¹⁶ The cashew kernels are then exported to the countries where they are sold, where they are also packaged for sale. ¹⁸

Further processing steps include roasting, salting and caramelizing the peeled cashews.

Further information

The cashew tree ( Anacardium occidentale) belongs to the sumac family ( Anacardiaceae), which also includes mangos ( Magnifera L.) and pistachios ( Pistacia L.). ¹⁴

Are cashews nuts? Botanically speaking, they are cashew kernels and not cashew nuts.

Alternative names

Alternative names and alternative spellings for cashew kernels or cashews for short are cashew kernels, cashew nuts, cashew nuts, cashew nut, cashew nuts, cashew fruit, cashew kernels or elephant louse.

The name cashew nut comes from the Portuguese names "Caju" or "Cajueiro", which are based on "Acaju = kidney tree" from the Indian Tupi language. Other Indian tribes called the cream-colored kernels "Merei" or "Marañon". The German names cashew kernel or cashew nut are derived from the English name cashew. The cashew tree is also known as the cashew tree, Acajou tree, kidney tree or West Indian kidney tree. ³

Important English terms are cashew nuts, cashew tree, cashew apple or cashew nut shell liquid (CNSL).

Other applications

Cashew shell oil (CNSL) is obtained primarily through the roasting process. It consists of anacardic acid (70%), cardol (18%) and cardanol (5%). It is processed into synthetic resins, brake pads, clutch discs, paints, etc. and is used medicinally. ⁷