Who does n’t like a crank of orange juice , especially during these wintertime - month mornings when our bodies crave vitamin carbon ? You probably have an simulacrum rude , freshly - squeezed juice from an Eden - like garden in Florida , but the reality could n’t be further from the truth . If we know that the majority of premium orange succus sell in this country is denudate of its feel and stored in Brobdingnagian tank for months and that some of it come from other land , we ’d feel as squeeze as our champion Alissa Hamilton , author of the bookSqueezed : What You Do n’t Know About Orange Juice(Yale Press , 2009 ) and a drawing card in orange - succus research .
Although she ’s based in urban Toronto , Alissa shares our core Farmstead Chef feeling of genuineness , transparency , have it away our food for thought sources , and unite straight with granger who turn or bring up what we eat . She does n’t apply shock statistic or point fingerbreadth at big corp to relay her subject matter . Instead , she blends her sound and scientific knowledge to convey her research .
For starters , she has shed new light on musical phrase , such as “ not from dressed ore , ” which have become so ingrained in our shopping mental lexicon we do n’t query what they in reality intend .
She also demystifies orange - juice qualification process : “ In decree to have a 365 - day supply of ‘ not from dressed ore ’ orange juice , the big - brand names stack away their production for up to a year in million - gallon sterile warehousing tankful , where the succus is strip of oxygen so it does n’t oxidize or go defective in the armoured combat vehicle . ”
Strip a juice of oxygen and you also foray the succus of its flavor and nutrition . As a final result , orange - succus companies chemically mastermind flavor ingroup to bestow back to the succus to make it taste tonic .
“ Something that says ‘ 100 - percent juice ’ may still turn back flavor packs , ” Alissa admonish , “ but unfortunately you wo n’t see that on the recording label because the orangish - juice companies have fought not to have to let on the addition of these flavour packs as an factor in their juice . ”
Alissa read she want mass to know exactly what they ’re buy and to be sure they are n’t being played by selling myth . Part of the myth surrounding orange juice is that it come from Florida when in reality much of the succus on the food market today is imported from Brazil . This raise red iris , as succus oranges in Brazil are spray with the fungicide carbendazim , which has been banned for use of goods and services on oranges in the United States since 2008 .
Still feeling confused about that cartonful sitting in your electric refrigerator ? We may not be able to ready the citrus industry ( fortunately Alissa is shaft - heading that ) , but we can make more knowing choices with our pocketbooks . Here ’s some advice from Alissa :
1 . Eat the ( whole ) orange . void succus controversies and plainly eat up a whole orangeness — ideally one that ’s constitutive . “ You ’ll get the most nutriment by eating a whole , smart orangeness rather than drinking any shape of commercial succus , ” Alissa says .
2 . Make your own OJ.If it ’s the juice you lust , make your own for 100 - per centum authentic , fresh - squeezed Orange River juice in a spyglass . Four oranges will yield just about 1½ cups of succus . Valencia orange tree make great - tasting juice , are available from Florida and are in seasonal abundance from March through June , so your food budget and taste buds will get more bang for their sawhorse then .
3 . Look for smaller companionship and a brusk shelf life story . Because of the pauperism to keep stores stocked with orange juice 365 days a twelvemonth , the great companies , such as Tropicana and Minute Maid , use processing and storage techniques that allow for ledge - lives of 60 days or prospicient . Alissa recommends depend for succus with a shorter ledge lifespan , keep in mind that fresh juice only endure a few days . Also , juice made by little companies and firebrand based in Florida , like Organic Valley Family of Farms or Uncle Matt ’s , is less processed so it does n’t have to rely on the summation of flavor packs to make the succus savor ripe .
While we ’re talking orange succus today , these same transparency issues in labeling go for to everything on our plate , especially when we ca n’t buy something like a shot from our farmer informant .
“ Orange juice is a good example of a much bigger issue of what ’s wrong with our solid food system and why it is imperative for each of us to separately take doubt and hold food companies accountable for their claims , ” Alissa sums up . “ Misleading merchandising combined with a loss of seasonal eating and requirement for all types of food anytime of the year , make it complicated and puzzling to understand what ’s really on our plate — or in our cupful . ”
taste the respectable life ,
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