Why are Currants (the berry type) not commonly sold in the USA?

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When I was in Europe, I had the opportunity to try red currants, picked off a bush. I’m currently drinking Lipton Forest Fruit Tea, which is flavored with black and red currants – and not available in the USA. I like them, but I never saw them sold at the supermarket, or used as flavoring in jellies/jams.

Do we not like the taste of them? Are they too hard to grow or transport? Is it the stigma of “don’t eat red round berries growing on bushes” we were told when we were kids?

In: Biology

2 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

I’ve just read that the cultivation and importation of currants to the US was banned for decades due to some sort of fungal outbreak connected to them.

I would imagine that you’ll start seeing them more and more, culture just needs to catch up

Anonymous 0 Comments

They spread a disease to pine trees and the government said no more currants. So we quit.
They are allowed now but nobody really knows about them because they were gone for so long.