What I've been saying all along re: OJ

Tamiri

Sun, Jul 31 2011, 1:30 pm

DrMom wrote:

Are you saying this a kashrut problem?

No. It's a "pull the wool over their eyes" problem. Americans are SO hooked on their OJ, and really believe the "fresh squeezed" spiel on the carton. Years ago - 11 or so? - I met a natural/holistic doctor who told me to NEVER believe what's on labels. He cited OJ as just one example, asking me: how do you think they get OJ to taste the same in every single carton - when you squeeze it at home it neither tastes like the carton, nor does it taste the same very time! The simple solution: fresh squeezed isn't what you think it is!

MaBelleVie

Sun, Jul 31 2011, 1:36 pm

Interesting. I actually postulated that question to my dh recently- how do they get products that are supposedly all natural to taste the same all the time? My example was brand x of canned corn. How can every batch of corn come out tasting exactly the same, when the ingredients are only corn, water and salt? The corn on the cob we eat certainly doesn't always taste the same. Well, here's my answer. I figured as much.

DrMom

Sun, Jul 31 2011, 7:41 pm

Intersesting.

I always thought that Tropicana varied the proportions of the Florida vs Brazillian oranges to help maintain flavor consistency throughout the growing cycles in the two regions.

In contrast, I assumed that the fresh-squeezed juice in Israel (which is ridiculously expensive for a country which grows so much citrus) varies with season. because the oranges are taken from a single region.

nylon

Sun, Jul 31 2011, 8:42 pm

Some brands of fresh squeezed juice (real fresh squeezed) do just that. There are tests you can do on sugar and acidity, to reduce (but not completely eliminate) variation from batch to batch. There will still be slightly different flavors, because oranges aren't a perfectly consistent product, but if you get the same level of sugar and acid in each carton, the flavor will be close. And you can also try to keep to the same varieties of orange, which will have a more consistent taste.

WRT canned or frozen vegetables, the explanation is more innocuous. It's harder to season whole fruits or vegetables than juice, though they do adjust salt, sugar, and acid depending on the product. The major brands have strict controls on the plants that are grown, their quality, the picking schedule. For example, Libby's pumpkin is all actually a particular variety of butternut squash known as Dickinson pumpkin. The farmers are contracted to grow specially for Libby's (mainly in central Illinois) and if the product doesn't meet their standards, they don't use it. You might remember, a couple of years ago there was a shortage of Libby's. The pumpkin crop was poor, and so they didn't can as much as usual. Because canned goods are not perishable, they can be grown on a normal schedule and canned as they ripen. The orange juice problem is unusual--we want a seasonal, fresh product available year round, and you need to resort to tricks to get it that way.

I've known about the orange juice thing for a couple of years now. I still buy Tropicana sometimes, but in my house, juice is breakfast soda--not a regular beverage, but something we have occasionally. It's too expensive and it's not good for my blood sugar anyhow.