According to a new report in The Consumerist, it turns out that all orange juice you buy at the grocery store has been denatured, reprocessed, and pumped full of orange juice-tasting chemicals to such an extent that it barely resembles the original. All courtesy of a new book called "Squeezed: What You Don't Know About Orange Juice," which promises to do for the orange juice industry what "Fast Food Nation" did for the beef industry.
When orange juice says "not from concentrate," it's true that it hasn't been concentrated. But what has happened is that it has been stored in giant tanks with the air removed, to keep it "fresh" year round. Then, in order to repair the damage done to the flavor during this process, the orange juice manufacturers add what they call "flavor packs." These are chemical cocktails which have been carefully engineered to provide the right flavor profile.
I found it particularly interesting that many of these flavor packs include ethyl butyrate. This is a pineapple-y tasting chemical which is derived from butyric acid. Butyric acid is what makes dairy products like butter and parmesan taste rich and buttery. It's also a national favorite flavor of America, and is added to all sorts of things you wouldn't expect.
Butyric acid is interesting because culturally, it's not a big hit in Asia. In fact, in Asia there is a perception that Americans smell like butter. Which makes sense in a way, because many Americans - fattened on a diet rich in butyric acid - may well be giving off the chemical in our sweat.
And to bring this full circle, I have been put off many a container of orange juice products by an odd odor of buttermilk. I always assumed it meant that the juice had gone bad. Now I think I may just have been detecting the ham-handed application of flavor packs at the juice factory.
Of course, many people don't feel any squeamishness in learning that something supposedly natural is actually just a calculated chemical cocktail. But at the very least, this expose makes it obvious that the price on these juices has been hugely marked up. You're basically paying premium prices for something that's just one step away from Kool-Aid.
It's pretty easy to make your own orange juice. And if you have never tried freshly-squeezed juice, you will be blown away by the difference! Or better still, just eat oranges. All the nutritional value and delicious taste, plus a lot of healthy fiber to boot!
When orange juice says "not from concentrate," it's true that it hasn't been concentrated. But what has happened is that it has been stored in giant tanks with the air removed, to keep it "fresh" year round. Then, in order to repair the damage done to the flavor during this process, the orange juice manufacturers add what they call "flavor packs." These are chemical cocktails which have been carefully engineered to provide the right flavor profile.
I found it particularly interesting that many of these flavor packs include ethyl butyrate. This is a pineapple-y tasting chemical which is derived from butyric acid. Butyric acid is what makes dairy products like butter and parmesan taste rich and buttery. It's also a national favorite flavor of America, and is added to all sorts of things you wouldn't expect.
Butyric acid is interesting because culturally, it's not a big hit in Asia. In fact, in Asia there is a perception that Americans smell like butter. Which makes sense in a way, because many Americans - fattened on a diet rich in butyric acid - may well be giving off the chemical in our sweat.
And to bring this full circle, I have been put off many a container of orange juice products by an odd odor of buttermilk. I always assumed it meant that the juice had gone bad. Now I think I may just have been detecting the ham-handed application of flavor packs at the juice factory.
Of course, many people don't feel any squeamishness in learning that something supposedly natural is actually just a calculated chemical cocktail. But at the very least, this expose makes it obvious that the price on these juices has been hugely marked up. You're basically paying premium prices for something that's just one step away from Kool-Aid.
It's pretty easy to make your own orange juice. And if you have never tried freshly-squeezed juice, you will be blown away by the difference! Or better still, just eat oranges. All the nutritional value and delicious taste, plus a lot of healthy fiber to boot!