Dried mulberries -- amazing source of vitamin C?

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Created on 07, August, 2016

Packages of dried mulberries abound in the "healthier foods" marketplace. Most, if not all, show at least 100% DV for vitamin C in one serving. 

The serving size is around 25-30 grams, which equates to about 75-85 calories. USDA data for mulberries is only available for FRESH/RAW mulberries, and the vitamin C for fresh mulberries in a serving containing about 80 calories does reach around 100% of DV (Daily Value). However, fresh is not the same as dried. When you dry a fruit/berry, you lose most of the water-soluble vitamins, such as vitamin C. The dried version has little or no vitamin C. This is a common error on dried fruit packaging. When the data is lacking for what they are labeling, many companies substitute data from what they think is the "same/equivalent" food. Unfortunately, dried is NOT equivalent to raw for certain nutrients, plus the water loss creates a different weight/density that needs to be adjusted for. 

This same package of mulberries does not have correctly rounded nutrition data -- a big red flag that the data itself is probably not correct. And, interestingly, while they make claims of "good source of fiber" and other (correct) nutrient claims, they do not make any vitamin C claims, despite the 100% DV qualifying for a claim of "excellent source"... if it were true.