So this weekend a few larger websites (I’m looking at you Consumerist and Gizmodo…) “broke” the story about big box brands of orange juice being made by a process of deoxygenation and subsequently having their flavor augmented with “flavor packs,” blends of oils and fragrances before being sold as “not from concentrate” orange juice. These flavor packs are not listed in the ingredients of the orange juices they are added to, because the flavorings and fragrances are themselves derived from orange oils and extracts.
Now I’m not saying this isn’t important stuff. I’m not saying these are not extremely dubious practices from companies that claim their orange juice has “that right-from-the-grove, fresh-squeezed taste. And, just like fresh-squeezed juice, there’s no water, sugar, or preservatives added, only 100 percent pure premium quality pasteurized orange juice.” I’m not saying that the companies don’t put over simplistic information of their product’s processing on their websites, such as this picture:
That really big box of OJ is where all the oxygen is removed and the flavor packs are eventually added. Not included in the picture is the Flavor company where the flavor packs are developed.
No, I’m not denying any of this. What I do have a problem with is the fact that this is a two-year-old scoop. In fact, Alissa Hamilton wrote an entire book on the subject. And it was released on May 26, 2009. Slow news day, guys?
