Acres USA Article - OJ is Guilty!

by Scott K
(New Terra Farm, Merrickville)

Was just reading an ACRES interview (Oct 2009 issue, title Citrus Test; ) with Alissa Hamilton; she is the author of Squeezed: What You Don't Know About Orange Juice.

In the interview she details the fairly bizarre process oranges go through to become juice. She also talks about the (frankly misleading) packaging and promotional efforts on the part of the OJ industry.

Some of the more disturbing points raised in the article:



  1. Use of misleading language e.g. 'squeezed from fresh oranges' DOES NOT mean 'fresh squeezed'. In fact the juice is pasturized and may be stored for up to a year in aseptic, million-gallon tanks until distributed to the consumer

  2. 'Not from concentrate' DOES NOT mean better juice, or fresher juice; it comes from those same bulk tanks.

  3. The storage process strips the juice of flavour, so this is added back in artificially using 'flavour packs'

  4. Brazil is now taking over much of the orange juice production from Florida, because land is cheaper, labour is cheaper and there are far fewer environmental restrictions.

  5. Even 'organic orange juice' may be heavily processed, unless the bottle has the exact words 'fresh squeezed'. Ms. Hamilton suggests checking the 'best before' date; if your juice has a shelf life of 60 days it's not all that fresh!


So, what's to do? I guess one solution would be to buy organic oranges and squeeze your own. Perhaps it might be better to just eat the oranges, and get all the nutrition that way.

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Nov 08, 2009
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Food Industry Fables - No surprise here
by: Sherri

Well surprise, surprise. In all honesty with every passing day I trust the food industry less and less.

It has got to the point that I cringe when I have to buy meat. Until our own meats are ready next year, we are stuck. I have more than once thrown out pork (bought from a reputable high end grocery store chain) due to the stench of feces!

If I am unable to grow the amount/variety of meat I want next year then I will buy from a local farmer.

Corporate greed has left every facet of life corrupt. It is time to go back to the old ways of our grandparents & great grandparents. It is a pity and a surprise that mankind as a whole has not had this revelation!

If only people realized that if you buy locally healthy food is affordable for all!. If we all did this we would find our local economies would be booming!

There is no need to buy foods shipped in from god know where!. Honestly this topic could cause me to rant even more but I will end it here.

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