this post was submitted on 21 Feb 2026
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[–] in_my_honest_opinion@piefed.social 261 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (7 children)

IF you're actually curious, it was because we used to import them, and the importers would dye them red due to discoloration in how they were harvested. Domestic production ramped up in the US and since pistachios didn't have to travel as far, and because modern harvesting was more mechanized. It was easier to wash, dry, roast and salt them in a shorter time period avoiding the discoloration that required the dye in the first place.

[–] A_Chilean_Cyborg@feddit.cl 42 points 2 days ago (1 children)

So is a US defaultism kinda thing huh

[–] Starski@lemmy.zip 18 points 2 days ago (2 children)

I hate this idea of "us defaultism" being labeled on anything that even remotely involves the US. This isnt us defaultism, this is someone from the US sharing something about the US worded to be for someone for the US. I see this numerous different times with different topics for different countries, but I don't go "oh this is German defaultism, oh this is Zimbabwean defaultism." It's a fun fact that you're taking too seriously because you have a hate boner for the US, which is honestly fair.

[–] flyby@lemmy.zip 7 points 2 days ago (1 children)

I world disagree because vast majority of the posts from different countries are labeled so (e.g. “In Germany, we had so and so”). Posts from US are almost never labeled so, hence the “defaultism”

[–] Redacted@lemmy.zip 4 points 1 day ago

Okay but the guy at the start of this comment chain literally did label it

[–] A_Chilean_Cyborg@feddit.cl 1 points 1 day ago

That person assumed everyone would be from the US, wich is not true, hence defaultism.

[–] lugal@lemmy.dbzer0.com 79 points 3 days ago (4 children)

I see, so that's why they have never been red outside the US

[–] Banana@sh.itjust.works 36 points 3 days ago (4 children)

Ok that makes sense because I (a 30+ yo canadian) was so confused.

[–] idiomaddict@lemmy.world 10 points 3 days ago (1 children)

It’s also about ten years out of date, 25 year olds today probably wouldn’t recognize this

[–] SweepTheLeg@lemmy.world 9 points 2 days ago (1 children)

I'm 47 and have never seen this. I only remember pistachios in ice cream but they werent fucking red.

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[–] Armand1@lemmy.world 65 points 3 days ago (8 children)

Wait, this is real? I thought this was a joke...

Like "Back in my day, bananas were bright purple, but that breed died out."

[–] skisnow@lemmy.ca 23 points 2 days ago (1 children)

I also thought this was a joke until I read the comments. Pistachios have always been pistachio coloured in the rest of the world.

There's something very American about drowning a perfectly healthy natural product in brightly coloured dye.

[–] Drusas@fedia.io 13 points 2 days ago (2 children)

Iran died them before export. Not Americans.

[–] Kacarott@aussie.zone 9 points 2 days ago

Know your customer

[–] skisnow@lemmy.ca 6 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

Presumably at their request, or at least their approval, since it doesn’t seem to be a thing in any other country. Most products in the US are imported, don’t pass the buck. “Iran forced it on us” goes against absolutely everything else we know about US consumers.

[–] rudyharrelson@lemmy.radio 32 points 3 days ago (2 children)

I also figured this was just a "let's screw with the youth"-type post. We used to eat pistachios all the time when I was a kid (I'm 35) and I don't think I've ever seen a red one before today. They were always beige/greenish.

[–] Mouselemming@sh.itjust.works 36 points 3 days ago (2 children)

We over-60s remember when pistachios were red, airplane security was non-existent and everywhere smelled like cigarettes.

[–] Tar_alcaran@sh.itjust.works 16 points 3 days ago

Hey, I'm not even 40 and I remember getting to check out the cockpit of a plane multiple times. And the brown glass ashtrays at McDonalds.

[–] Drusas@fedia.io 6 points 2 days ago (2 children)

I'm two decades younger and remember all that except red pistachios. And my family used to eat a lot of pistachios.

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[–] dharmacurious@slrpnk.net 17 points 3 days ago (2 children)

I'm also 35, and I remember the red ones. But my mom ate a lot of pistachios and sunflower seeds when she quit smoking in the mid 90s

[–] DrSteveBrule@mander.xyz 14 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Now smoking is much more financially responsible than eating pistachios

[–] Dasus@lemmy.world 2 points 2 days ago (2 children)

Where? In EU and Australia at least tobacco is taxed to high heaven and costs like 10+ western money units (take whichever, dollar or euro, still roughly applies) a pack/pouch

I pay 14.30€ for a 30g pouch of rolling tobacco. And it's probably more expensive the next time I buy because the pack before that was 13.50€. There's a few price-hikes every year.

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[–] Dozzi92@lemmy.world 9 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Yeah, I'm 38 and remember red pistachios. Also remember finding some sort of worm thing burrowed into one of those red pistachios, while I was sitting at my grandfather's kitchen table eating pistachios. Didn't stop me. Well, it stopped me from eating that one. But I'm always leery if a pistachio has a hole in it.

[–] bhamlin@lemmy.world 7 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Don't sleep on the extra protein, bro!

It's chew into your brain and make you Secretary of Health, bro!

[–] GladiusB@lemmy.world 7 points 2 days ago

Nope. It's real. I was actually thinking about this the other day and just "wondered". Probably got busy with work and forgot to Google it and then this. I remembered them being red when I was a kid. Now I know why.

It's absolutely real; there's a joke about it in The Naked Gun.

It's not that there used to be a red variety of pistashio, they were sold coated in this oily red gunk that would stain your fingers pink. That stopped at some point in the late 90's early 2000s.

[–] ajikeshi@lemmy.world 7 points 2 days ago

many different kinds of bananas and plantains

and even the "original banana-flavour"-banana is still around, the kind is called "grand michel" and can still be bought, but is no longer suitable for mass farming (due to some fungi/bacteria vulnerability)

[–] hissingmeerkat@sh.itjust.works 9 points 3 days ago (1 children)

There are bananas that are dark red to dark purple, those varieties barely get imported to the US. For some reason the import market is 1-variety-of-bananas-at-a-time-until-it-goes-extinct.

[–] Jesus_666@lemmy.world 11 points 3 days ago

Because most banana varieties aren't very transport stable.

[–] chaogomu@lemmy.world 9 points 3 days ago

The real answer is that yes, they were red, but no it wasn't because they were poor quality.

It's because the world's largest exporter was Iran, and Iran had a blanket policy of dying their pistachios red.

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[–] rainwall@piefed.social 18 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (3 children)

Similiar reason cheddar is orange. Cheesemakers used to die it to cover inconsistences in quality or rot.

At this point, cheddar is almost perfectly homogenous, but people expect it to be orange, so its orange.

[–] SweepTheLeg@lemmy.world 6 points 2 days ago

At least they use natural ingredients to make it yellow and not red #5.

[–] axexrx@lemmy.world 2 points 1 day ago

It was less about hiding rot, and more about making it appear to have a higher fat content.

[–] EndlessNightmare@reddthat.com 6 points 2 days ago (1 children)

What is it's natural color? I know there is a white cheddar. Is that just undyed cheddar or is it a different variety?

Pale yellow. To make it orange cheddar they just add annatto for coloring.

[–] halcyoncmdr@piefed.social 16 points 2 days ago (1 children)

In the same vein... Maraschino cherries aren't red, they are golden.

[–] sploosh@lemmy.world 7 points 2 days ago

Those are cherries that are not yet Marachino. Light-colored cherries are used because the darker ones don't bleach enough to look good with the dye they use. Maraschino cherries are whatever color they are dyed with (usually red).

[–] stupidcasey@lemmy.world 14 points 2 days ago (1 children)

So instead of dying them back to green they chose to make them unholy abominations made with red dye that is known to give cancer? Cool.

[–] Darkenfolk@sh.itjust.works 9 points 2 days ago

Yeah, they should've used green dye that gives us cancer, that way they at least have their natural colour.

[–] HeyThisIsntTheYMCA@lemmy.world 7 points 2 days ago (1 children)

So if in the 80s I lived in an area that didn't import them already, say, Fresno, the joke would go over my head? Because I sure as hell don't remember red pistachios

[–] Jyek@sh.itjust.works 3 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Holy shit you are pinning my exact experience. I grew up in Fresno CA and have never even seen a red pistachio in my life.

[–] HeyThisIsntTheYMCA@lemmy.world 2 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Well howdy neighbor! I grew up a few (not gonna say the amount) miles north of you. If you're in your mid 40s we might have competed against each other in sports/music/&c. growing up.

Beautiful area, great food, no?

[–] Jyek@sh.itjust.works 1 points 1 day ago

Excellent food and a good cultural mix of people. Melting pot of America for sure. Awful heat though. I left there years ago. Though I return to visit old friends.