The Truth About Your OJ!

How are you today?

How did you start your morning? I used to start my morning with a fresh glass of orange juice, a stretch, a yawn and a new resolve…

 

That was until I found out that the wholesome orange goodness that I thought I was imbibing was perhaps not as wholesome and authentic as I thought.

 

The Myth

When I think of fresh orange juice, l have an image of countless fields of oranges on trees and a happy brown person with broken teeth and a worn out sun hat smiling warmly at the camera as he drops another zesty fresh orange into his full basket.

I have this image because that was what was sold to me since I was a nipper. The truth however is somewhat different. The little brown man and his plump happy wife do not spend all day squeezing juice just so that I can have it fresh the next day! Here is the story of your orange juice and how it gets to your table:

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The Reality

The reality is that when oranges are picked they are squeezed, the pulp discarded and the juice is stored in huge vats. Oxygen is then removed from the juice to enable it to be able to hang around for up to 1 year (hello?) without going off. This process also strips the juice of all it’s flavors.

When they are ready to use the juice, the flavors are replaced using flavor packs designed by the same people that make perfumes for the big perfume companies. They also use industrial chemical processes to recreate the smell of orange.

 

Unfeasible

Often we don’t reconsider what we are buying once the advertising message has numbed our brain into automatic repetitive purchasing. But it stands to reason that any fresh juice that tastes consistently sweet must have had something done to it as it is near impossible to be able to buy consistently sweet fruit.

It also stands to reason that any fresh product that has an unfeasible shelf life will have had some industrial process intervening between it’s natural, simple state and you. Whilst the orange liquid that ends up on our tables might not be detrimental for you, (jury’s still out), for me it does not remotely resemble what I thought I was buying.

Tell me. Does this surprise you?

 

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79 thoughts on “The Truth About Your OJ!”

  4. Holy cow! I had no idea that is what they did to make orange juice! That’s… horrific! I eat a whole food plant based diet and I long ago abandoned juices as I began to juice for myself to get the sugars they add in out of my diet and to add nutrients; so I never felt the need to delve futher into how they make juice as I had already left that kind behind. This is just… so much worse than I could have thought and makes me so much more thankful for the fresh juice I make every morning with fresh fruits and veggies!

      1. True story! I had no idea how poor my eating habits had become until I took a deep look and revamped it. It took a bit to get used to but it’s incredible what a difference eating like this made for me health wise. =)

  9. Thank you for following imaginenewdesigns. I stopped drinking juice on a regular basis after I learned that it sends a lot of sugar to your bloodstream at one time. It is better to eat fruit rather than drink its juice because the fiber slows down the release of the sugar in the fruit.

    This informative post has given me another reason not to drink fruit juice. While I was not surprised by the use of artificial flavors and chemicals, I was surprised to learn that orange juice was deoxygenated and allowed to age in vats for up to a year. Yuck!

    1. Yes that’s IS another good reason. 🙂 We often forget just how much sugar fruit has in it, (albeit a healthier sugar) and people who eat a lot of fruit to be healthy are always surprised to find themselves still putting on weight despite a ‘healthy’ diet.
      When you take time to chew your intake the act of chewing and the fibre of the fruit helps restrict over consumption.

  10. Hi. Thank God that you posted this. They keep labeling foods natural when they aren’t. I use my juicer or eat fruit. And it’s a shame when people who are more educated don’t seem to care.

  13. This doesn’t surprise me at all. I try to squeeze all my own juices. Taking this even further, you should consider what they do to our milk — I only buy raw milk direct from the cow, they take everything out of what people buy in the store. Thanks for the great post.

  14. Nope…I am not surprised, and I used to be big time consumer of different types of juices…now I prefer eating the fruits and not juice them…because, I am told, its better for your health!

      1. You sound like Spiderman…i am now wondering whether its actually a woman masquerading as the “masked menace” LOL….Boy that would be some story…should I be contacting the studios with my idea?! 🙂

  18. I heard about this a few months ago — it’s shocking what can be labelled and sold as “fresh” these days. Fortunately I don’t drink much juice and I live where fresh oranges are easily available if I do decide I want some.

  28. Yes, it surprises me but it shouldn’t. After all, that’s how everything is anymore. We are lied to and deceived by everybody, especially by government and environmentalists.

  29. Best to eat the orange as opposed to drinking the juice alone, especially when you are sick. You gain more vitamin C this way. And this doesn’t surprise me at all. Ugh…

  30. This doesn’t surprise me at all. I always prefer pulp in my juice, but the way my body responds to juice has been proof enough to me to the industrial process. Yet I still drink it. Why? Because I am an avid reader of nutritional facts and the serving of Vitamin C is important enough for me to at least have a small glass of it.

    As they say: “Everything in moderation.”

  31. Thank you very much for educating your readers about orange juice! I have never served it to my kids, as the pediatrician recommended milk and water only. I know they’ve had it on a rare occasion, but it’s nothing that they crave.

  33. It doesn’t surprise me at all. I drink juices from fruits directly and you can tell how different they taste from the packaged ones. One clear example is how fresh carrot juice and pacakaged carrot juice taste like. Few ppl seem to be able to enjoy the taste of fresh carrot juice. Even the fresh milk that comes in packaged forms isnt entirely fresh but that is not so bad. You are way better off buying fruits and juicing them.

  34. I stopped drinking “processed” juice a long time and started squeezing oranges I buy in the store. It may cost more but at least I know I’m getting the real deal. Tastes much better too.

  37. I’d rather drink freshly sqeezed orange juice, or even better self sqeezed juice!
    Like this you can see that the juice from the supermarket can never be that cheap if it where it to be the real thing

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