Juiced

[jason]

I get a daily e-mail from Dan Lewis who runs a list called Now I know. He sends out articles on all sorts of things you may or may not know, and the other day it was on Juice. I thought some people here may find it interesting.

Tropicana Pure Premium Orange Juice has one ingredient listed on its label: "100% Pure Natural Oranges." While that's accurate, it may also be misleading. Why? Because while the ingredients imply that oranges are cut, put into a juicer, and the resulting juice is then packaged, that's not quite right. The process is much more complicated -- and, seemingly, much less pure.

According to a 2003 report from the United States Department of Agriculture (pdf here), orange juice was the most popular juice in the United States, and easily so -- it was 2.5 times more popular than the number two on the list, apple juice. Per that report, in order to provide the demanded orange juice to American consumers, one would need about 70 pounds of oranges, per American, year year. And in order to provide that huge amount of orange juice to consumers, companies such as Tropicana go through a long process, one much more involved than simply squeezing a dozen or so oranges and sealing the juice into a box.

In 1963, the U.S. government added an optional but, from a brand quality perspective, hardly avoidable step -- pasteurization, which in part involves heating the juice to temperatures higher than one would typically want their juice served at. That year, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) began to requires that unpasteurized juice be labeled as such, replete with a warning that it may contain some pathogens which would have otherwise been removed in the heating process. So most of the orange juice made for sale in the U.S. has, in fact, been pasteurized, as the warnings would scare off most consumers otherwise.

But the pasteurization process removes more than just pathogens. It also reduces the flavor and aroma from the juice. This problem is exacerbated by how commercial juice companies store the juice -- something called aseptic processing (described here), which removes the oxygen from the product in order to keep it sterile for a long period of time. After the OJ has undergone all this, it does not taste or smell like the product you are used to drinking at breakfast.

To fix this, large orange juice manufacturers use something called "flavor packs" -- additives which are derived from oranges, and specifically from the orange oil excreted from inside the rind. These flavor packs are added to the juice toward the end of the process, and can even be customized to some degree in order to provide consistency between cartons (and perhaps some sort of taste- or smell-driven brand recognition). Food policy scholar Alissa Hamilton, who authored a book about the orange juice production process, told ABC News that these flavor packs, that, while made from oranges (and only oranges), the companies "break [the oranges] down into individual chemicals." She further told the New Yorker that the companies "then reassemble the individual chemicals in configurations that resemble nothing found in nature."

The FDA states that flavor packs are regarded as safe, and when ABC News asked Hamilton if she believed the flavor packs were dangerous, she replied with "I don't know." (That said, Hamilton does not drink pre-packaged orange juice any more.) But that was not enough for some. Earlier this year, a California consumer by the name of Angelena Lewis (no relation) sued Tropicana (news report here, legal filing here), arguing that the undisclosed use of flavor packs ran afoul of California's false advertising laws.

Bonus fact: Brush your teeth and then go drink some OJ, and you're in for a rude surprise -- the juice tastes downright awful. What causes that? Most toothpastes contain a compound called sodium laureth sulfate, which causes the foaming action when you brush. But it also blocks your tongue from being able to detect sweetness. So when you drink the juice, you're unable to taste the sweet aspects; instead, you only sense the bitter/sour parts.

 

[artistry]

What a revealing article. Thank you. I usually only buy Tropicana, now I will look at it differently. The things you just don't know about what your are buying or consuming.

 

[Carolynn]

Very interesting! I rarely buy orange juice, but it will definitely make me look at it differently as well. I have been considering buying a juicer so that we can make our own.

 

[Esperahol]

Someone else mentioned this to me and... I couldn't come up with the effort to care. I mean I like orange juice, I don't like pathogens, and flavor packs aren't dangerous. No harm, no foul.

 

[classicnyer]

What's interesting about the bonus fact is that it's true even of fresh squeezed orange juice, and has nothing to do with the rest of the article at all.

 

[marchese]

I don't drink juice and I don't trust it. I stick with water, coconut water, and occassionally, like 3 times a week I might have a soft drink if i'm out.

 

[Parker]

I used to drink a lot of orange juice and Tropicana was my favorite!

I don't have a problem with pasteurization. I don't really have a problem with the flavor packs because I used to eat the orange rind when I was a kid. In a childcraft book, there was recipe to turn orange rinds into a type of treat. My siblings and I ate that stuff all the time. Also adding a touch of orange rind or lemon rind is a great flavor enhancer will cooking.

 

[classicnyer]

I used to drink a lot of orange juice and Tropicana was my favorite!

I don't have a problem with pasteurization. I don't really have a problem with the flavor packs because I used to eat the orange rind when I was a kid. In a childcraft book, there was recipe to turn orange rinds into a type of treat. My siblings and I ate that stuff all the time. Also adding a touch of orange rind or lemon rind is a great flavor enhancer will cooking.

I use orange rind in my cooking as well as a flavor enhancer. I'm all for staying as close to natural as budget and availability allow, but I think sometimes people take these things a little too far. I mean, why would someone get freaked out that their orange juice is being flavored by oranges?

 

[chabella]

That seems a little weird to me. While I agree with most of it I have had the same taste issue after the teeth brushing on just about any favor or brand of OJ out there right now. Does that mean they are all bad for me?

 

[Meow]

That seems a little weird to me. While I agree with most of it I have had the same taste issue after the teeth brushing on just about any favor or brand of OJ out there right now. Does that mean they are all bad for me?

That would be because it doesn't block the taste of some horrifying chemical, it blocks the taste of sweet things.

It would do the same to an actual orange.

 

[freshfoodie]

While I can't say that it surprises me that OJ consists of more than just oranges, I am disappointed. I really like OJ and I don't think it would be a horrible thing to just put squeezed oranges in a container. The problem is that they have to make it stay fresh for long periods of time and that doesn't happen when you don't process it first.

 

[jason]

While I can't say that it surprises me that OJ consists of more than just oranges, I am disappointed. I really like OJ and I don't think it would be a horrible thing to just put squeezed oranges in a container. The problem is that they have to make it stay fresh for long periods of time and that doesn't happen when you don't process it first.

I personally would not stop drinking it from the stores. But I always wondered why home made tasted better. I worked in a grocery store where they had a machine that made it "fresh". It used the whole orange, and just sort of squished it. But still not the same as when I made it at home.

 

[ohiotom76]

I always thought it was kind of odd how commercial orange juice always tasted consistently the same. The flavor of oranges seems to vary quite a bit, and they don't always taste the same like that. Plus, store bought orange juice has always tasted to strong to me for some reason. Guess this is why.

 

[aphil]

Excellent article! So much happens in the processing stage. I juice my own juice as much as possible.
We all tend to be so trusting and it is important to bring out these truths to energize us to abandon the convenience and prepare our own juices and foods. It is worth the time and effort.

 

[shaunche]

I remember brushing my teeth and drinking orange juice when I was a kid, I always wondered why it tastes so bad, that explains it.

Yet another example of why we can't trust our food manufacturers. I'd rather just juice my own fruit.