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Nothing fake in OJ, say growers

News Press – August 7, 2011

Southwest Florida citrus growers who read a July 29 blog on a food page of the Huffington Post website were puzzled and dismayed.

It was headlined “Why 100 percent Orange Juice is still Artificial,” and suggested that even the not-from-concentrate product is chemically altered.

That’s wrong, growers said, adding that the first time these allegations got widespread attention was in 2009, with the publication of Alissa Hamilton’s book, “Squeezed: What You Don’t Know About Orange Juice.”

The state Department of Citrus waged an information campaign then, but the issue resurfaced.

“We need to do a better job of getting our story out,” said Wayne Simmons, president of Gulf Citrus Growers Association.

Andrew Meadows is communications director for Florida Citrus Mutual, the state’s largest grower association. He’s mystified as to why the integrity of Florida orange juice is again being questioned, but noted in an email to The News-Press:

“The flavor add-backs (in from-concentrate Florida orange juice) are all natural, derived from oranges. Most of the blog reporting implies they’re chemical and somehow unnatural and that’s flat out inaccurate.”

Meadows isn’t alarmed, however: “If you look at the comments section after the blog posts, the vast majority of readers understand modern orange processing and plan on continuing to drink fresh Florida orange juice.”

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