Deadly Sushi
Formerly The Giant Mojito
VERY interesting article!!!
What isn't straightforward about orange juice?
HAMILTON: It's a heavily processed product. It's heavily engineered as well. In the process of pasteurizing, juice is heated and stripped of oxygen, a process called deaeration, so it doesn't oxidize. Then it's put in huge storage tanks where it can be kept for upwards of a year. It gets stripped of flavor-providing chemicals, which are volatile. When it's ready for packaging, companies such as Tropicana hire flavor companies such as Firmenich to engineer flavor packs to make it taste fresh. People think not-from-concentrate is a fresher product, but it also sits in storage for quite a long time.
IDEAS: What goes into these flavor packs?
HAMILTON: They're technically made from orange-derived substances, essence and oils. Flavor companies break down the essence and oils into individual chemicals and recombine them. I spoke to many people in the industry at Firmenich, different flavorists, and at Tropicana, and what you're getting looks nothing like the original substance. To call it natural at this point is a real stretch.
IDEAS: Why isn't orange flavor listed in the ingredients on the carton?
HAMILTON: The regulations were based on standards of identity for orange juice set in the 1960s. Technology at that time was not sophisticated at all . . . I don't think the concern is so much "are these flavor packs unhealthy?" The bigger issue is the fact that having to add flavor packs shows the product is not as fresh and pure as marketed.
IDEAS: It reminds me of McDonald's adding flavor to its fries to make them taste meaty, or beef extract to Chicken McNuggets, as we read about in "Fast Food Nation."
HAMILTON: The flavor industry can lend diversity to products that aren't really that diverse. Soft drinks are a perfect example: They're corn syrup and flavor. With orange juice, it's masking the processing procedure rather than the diversity of ingredients.
IDEAS: So parse the carton for us. For example, what is the phrase "not from concentrate" really about?
HAMILTON: In the '80s, Tropicana had a hold on ready-to-serve orange juice with full-strength juice. Then this new product, reconstituted orange juice, started appearing in supermarkets. Tropicana had to make decisions. Storing concentrate is much cheaper than full-strength juice. The phrase "not from concentrate" was to try to make consumers pay more for the product because it's a more expensive product to manufacture. It didn't have to do with the product being fresher; the product didn't change, the name simply changed. Tropicana didn't want to have to switch to concentrate technology.
IDEAS: A battle of the beverages?
HAMILTON: Yes. This is the orange juice equivalent of the cola wars. Minute Maid is probably the most familiar reconstituted orange juice, and it's owned by Coca-Cola. Tropicana is owned by Pepsi.
IDEAS: To what degree is orange juice still made from Florida oranges?
HAMILTON: Most concentrate is now from Brazil. Shipping it is relatively easy. Until recently, you could count on [Tropicana] Pure Premium being from Florida, but shipping technology has advanced. Companies like Tropicana have started shipping full-strength juice from Brazil rather than buying and squeezing in Florida. The majority of not-from-concentrate is coming from Florida-squeezed oranges, but that's certainly changing. The orange growing is moving to Brazil, which grows the most oranges for juice by far. Land is cheaper, and environmental regulations are almost nonexistent.
IDEAS: How is this affecting Florida growers?
HAMILTON: They are really struggling because of the growth of the industry. This product designed to help them has now effectively made them redundant. The groves are disappearing. They're being turned over in favor of condominiums. That was my ultimate aim, to show the connection between how processing does affect growing and how we as buyers - our lack of knowledge - does have implications for agriculture.
IDEAS: It strikes me that this is a timely book, with the Obama administration promising a review of FDA operations.
HAMILTON: I do think there's an opportunity. . . . It's been going on for decades with misleading marketing campaigns; I don't know why anybody isn't standing up to this. It's a perfect place for the FDA to start.
Devra First reports on food for the Globe.
http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/id...milton/?page=2
What isn't straightforward about orange juice?
HAMILTON: It's a heavily processed product. It's heavily engineered as well. In the process of pasteurizing, juice is heated and stripped of oxygen, a process called deaeration, so it doesn't oxidize. Then it's put in huge storage tanks where it can be kept for upwards of a year. It gets stripped of flavor-providing chemicals, which are volatile. When it's ready for packaging, companies such as Tropicana hire flavor companies such as Firmenich to engineer flavor packs to make it taste fresh. People think not-from-concentrate is a fresher product, but it also sits in storage for quite a long time.
IDEAS: What goes into these flavor packs?
HAMILTON: They're technically made from orange-derived substances, essence and oils. Flavor companies break down the essence and oils into individual chemicals and recombine them. I spoke to many people in the industry at Firmenich, different flavorists, and at Tropicana, and what you're getting looks nothing like the original substance. To call it natural at this point is a real stretch.
IDEAS: Why isn't orange flavor listed in the ingredients on the carton?
HAMILTON: The regulations were based on standards of identity for orange juice set in the 1960s. Technology at that time was not sophisticated at all . . . I don't think the concern is so much "are these flavor packs unhealthy?" The bigger issue is the fact that having to add flavor packs shows the product is not as fresh and pure as marketed.
IDEAS: It reminds me of McDonald's adding flavor to its fries to make them taste meaty, or beef extract to Chicken McNuggets, as we read about in "Fast Food Nation."
HAMILTON: The flavor industry can lend diversity to products that aren't really that diverse. Soft drinks are a perfect example: They're corn syrup and flavor. With orange juice, it's masking the processing procedure rather than the diversity of ingredients.
IDEAS: So parse the carton for us. For example, what is the phrase "not from concentrate" really about?
HAMILTON: In the '80s, Tropicana had a hold on ready-to-serve orange juice with full-strength juice. Then this new product, reconstituted orange juice, started appearing in supermarkets. Tropicana had to make decisions. Storing concentrate is much cheaper than full-strength juice. The phrase "not from concentrate" was to try to make consumers pay more for the product because it's a more expensive product to manufacture. It didn't have to do with the product being fresher; the product didn't change, the name simply changed. Tropicana didn't want to have to switch to concentrate technology.
IDEAS: A battle of the beverages?
HAMILTON: Yes. This is the orange juice equivalent of the cola wars. Minute Maid is probably the most familiar reconstituted orange juice, and it's owned by Coca-Cola. Tropicana is owned by Pepsi.
IDEAS: To what degree is orange juice still made from Florida oranges?
HAMILTON: Most concentrate is now from Brazil. Shipping it is relatively easy. Until recently, you could count on [Tropicana] Pure Premium being from Florida, but shipping technology has advanced. Companies like Tropicana have started shipping full-strength juice from Brazil rather than buying and squeezing in Florida. The majority of not-from-concentrate is coming from Florida-squeezed oranges, but that's certainly changing. The orange growing is moving to Brazil, which grows the most oranges for juice by far. Land is cheaper, and environmental regulations are almost nonexistent.
IDEAS: How is this affecting Florida growers?
HAMILTON: They are really struggling because of the growth of the industry. This product designed to help them has now effectively made them redundant. The groves are disappearing. They're being turned over in favor of condominiums. That was my ultimate aim, to show the connection between how processing does affect growing and how we as buyers - our lack of knowledge - does have implications for agriculture.
IDEAS: It strikes me that this is a timely book, with the Obama administration promising a review of FDA operations.
HAMILTON: I do think there's an opportunity. . . . It's been going on for decades with misleading marketing campaigns; I don't know why anybody isn't standing up to this. It's a perfect place for the FDA to start.
Devra First reports on food for the Globe.
http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/id...milton/?page=2
