That Orange Juice Isn’t as Fresh as You Think

It’s great that Tropicana has switched back to their familiar old logo, but a new book shows that all is not as it seems in the world of packaged orange juice. Alissa Hamilton, author of Squeezed gives us a behind the scenes look at the shockingly complex packaging technology and processing that supports the supposedly “fresh” juice we drink.

The Boston Globe explains:

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.

Boston Globe: “Q&A With Alissa Hamilton”

[via Kottke]