That not-from-concentrate orange juice? It's not so good for your budget

[lindisfarne]

In Alissa Hamilton's book "Squeezed: What You Don't Know About Orange Juice" from Yale University Press, she says that people looking for fresher, less processed foods won't find it in a carton of Minute Maid Premium, Tropicana or Simply Orange.

"It's a misconception that it's freshly squeezed from the groves of Florida," she said.

Rather, it's often a heavily processed product. In the pasteurization process, it's heated, stripped of oxygen and flavor chemicals, then put in huge storage vats for up to a year. When it's ready for packaging, flavor derived from orange essence and oils is added to make it taste fresh. Each company has its own special flavor pack, but to call it natural at this point is a real stretch, she said.

The phrase "not from concentrate" came about when Tropicana (an NFC juice) suddenly had to compete with similar looking cartons that were reconstituted from concentrate. The phrase was introduced to try to make consumers pay more for a product that is more expensive to manufacture but not fresher, said Hamilton. Orange "flavor" isn't listed on the label ingredients because that disclosure isn't required.
http://www.startribune.com/lifestyle/yourmoney/50629587.html?elr=KArksLckD8EQDUoaEyqyP4O:DW3ckUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aUUsZ
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I can buy organic oranges for 33 cents each, squeeze them, then eat the remaining part (I'm not overly efficient about squeezing them). You get juice, and all the benefits (fiber, vitamins, freshness) of eating a whole orange.

[derby378]

1. Organic Valley apparently wasn't part of the study group

I buy their orange juice whenever I'm able. Good stuff. Hope they're not doing the same thing.

[lindisfarne]

2. If it lasts more than 7 days and labeled "not from concentrate", they probably are doing something

similar.
Is it labeled "not from concentrate"?

[KT2000]

3. Interesting info

thanks for posting it

[Warpy]

4. Eating the orange is always preferable to drinking juice

for the reasons you cited. About the only things I'll juice are lemons and limes, after I've zested and frozen the peel.

I do love to stop at a local apple stand in the fall for cider. NM apples are desert apples: small, mean, tart and make the best cider I've ever had.

[TygrBright]

5. Not bad for eating, either, at least some of them.

I'm hoping Dixon's gets a bumper of Champagne apples this year, maybe we'll manage to score some.

wistfully,
Bright

[supernova]

6. The sugar content alone should warn people off

It's little more than gussied up sugar water.

Better to eat the whole fruit with the pulp and fibre than that overly processed stuff.

[lindisfarne]

7. Juices are less filling, too, which means you consume far more calories to get same filling effect

you would with a piece of whole fruit.

[kestrel91316]

8. If I want to ingest the juice of an orange, I'll eat an orange. I don't

waste my hard-earned dollars on "juice".

[juno jones]

9. It tastes better in a screwdriver tho....

:shrug: