It's Not Mold, It's Sugar

I opened up a new package of Made In Nature Organic Black Mission Figs (link here) on Saturday, and found several covered in "white stuff". I showed them to Dr Desert Flower, who knows organisms and natural things better than I, and she commented that she thought it was mold. I concurred and I indignantly called the 1-800-906-7426 customer service line on the back of the package, and left them a voice mail that basically said "My name is Joe. I bought your figs today at Costco (mentioned lot numbers and dates), I opened them, and found them moldy. You have a quality control problem. Call me back Monday."
So this morning, while I was covering for my manager, and my supervisor, both of who were on vacation, my phone rang - and "Brian" identified himself form Made In Nature's Customer Service Department. I reiterated my issue, and mentioned to him that the June blog posting has had 100s of direct hits, and 1000s of visits each week, and that I hoped Made In Nature can help to rectify this situation.
He asked me some questions regarding the "white stuff" and then assured me
1) it's not mold, it is the fig's natural sugars crystallizing on the outer skin
2) since they do not add sulfur, and the figs are all organic, this natural process is not arrested
3) the figs can be eaten "as is", or they can be rinsed if the appearance is undesirable, though rinsing them will wash off the sugars and they won't be as sweet.

As "Brian" was telling me, I popped one in my mouth, and sure enough, it WAS more sweet on the "white portion" of the fig. So no "Salem Witch Trials" here, just delicious figs. Yum! I am very glad I did not throw the white figs away Saturday.

I asked "Brian" if they were going to sell more than "just figs" to Costco, as I noticed on their website they have a wide variety of different organic foods. He told me they are trying to get Costco to carry more, and that Wholepaycheck(Whole Foods) sells them as well... but here on the West side of Phoenix, we don't have any Wholepaychecks.

So don't throw those white powdery organic figs away if you open up a new bag and it's not expired / beyond it's "enjoy by" date. It's probably just sugar and not some insidious mold attack.