Why the humble prune is having a moment in the sun

New Zealand Listener

10 Aug, 2026 02:00 AM3 mins to read

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The high-fibre prune might be about to get another image boost. Photo / Getty Images

This story is part of Niki Bezzant’s Monday feature read on the latest research about the importance of fibre in the diet. To read Part I, go here.

By the late 1990s, California prune growers had a problem. They were producing high-quality, abundant fruit –
40% of the world’s prunes come from California – but the dried fruit had an image problem at home. As the California Prune Board’s lobbyist Dan Haley told The Washington Post at the time, in Europe, younger people saw any dried fruit as “very healthy”. But in the US, people saw prunes as “a laxative for oldsters”.

Prunes have long been regarded as a cure for constipation, and for good reason. Prunes contain both soluble and insoluble fibre as well as sorbitol, a sugar alcohol that acts as a natural laxative. Though prunes in other cultures were regarded as an ingredient in both sweet and savoury dishes, in America, prunes were mostly, according to the board’s research, seen as slightly embarrassing, if they were thought about at all. The prune consumer was literally a dying breed.

The solution the prune marketing board came up with was a name change. Instead of “prunes”, the fruit would be rebranded “dried plums” (not too much of a stretch; that’s actually what they are). After consumer testing and lobbying of the Food and Drug Administration to allow the name change, in 2001, the California Dried Plum Board was born.

Despite the board’s best efforts, the rebrand wasn’t a hit. The dried plum never really took off among the younger consumers it was aimed at, and left older consumers confused. The California Dried Plum Board had taken its eye off the ball: what people had liked about prunes was their gut-boosting properties.

As the 2010s progressed and gut health became a trend, consumers who’d been too young to worry about prunes in the 90s started to get interested in the health of their bowels and to seek out the prune.

In 2019, nearly 20 years after the rebrand, the California prune was officially back, although it hadn’t gone anywhere in the rest of the world. In the meantime, some interesting research had emerged. Prunes are now being explored for bone health benefits; in 2022, a study found eating five or six prunes a day over a year preserved hip bone mineral density, reduced fracture risk and inflammatory mediators in postmenopausal women.

The humble, high-fibre prune might soon get another image boost.

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