Alissa Hamilton interviewed on CBC.
Maybe we should just stay away from anything and anyone named O.J.
Alissa Hamilton, interviewed here on CBC, recently published a book called "Squeezed: What You Don't Know About Orange Juice," and it looks like a juicy read; it could do for the orange juice industry what Eric Schlosser did for the meat industry with Fast Food Nation, which is: gross you out by exposing its dirty secrets.
Hamilton says the term "not from concentrate" is an advertising and PR success story, because in people's minds, it implies that the juice is fresh and better than other juices. In fact it's just the opposite.
Orange juice needs to be available all year long, even when no one is growing oranges. To increase its shelf-life, you need some rancid chemical goop, which is undrinkable until it's mixed with stuff that includes the sweet, sweet smell of "orange." Voila! We gulp the stuff down by the gallon, under the illusion that we're guzzling fresh, tasty, and healthy orange juice from Florida. Even that's not true: it's actually Brazil that grows them.
Say it ain't so, Bing.
She lost me around the two minute mark. Blah, blah, blah... Whoopee! Another product that we consume is bad for us and just another lie perpetuated upon us by big business. I'm sure her book will sell well, and give people yet another reason to be paranoid. And that will bring us one step closer to consuming all our food and drink through supplement caplets, like some sci-fi colony.
ReplyDeleteI prefer blissful ignorance when it comes to these things. I find that eating what you want and living how you want is far easier than dying the slow death of a stressed-out, worrisome existence. The stress a story like this may cause in the mind of an easily worried person is likely to create more health issues than if they didn't "know the truth" in the first place and just kept on consuimg the product.
But that's just my opinion.
Absolutely
ReplyDeleteShould have used one of the delightful Anita Bryant commercials instead of Bing.
ReplyDeleteShe's also a lesson in spokespeople gone bad in terms of their outside brand life effecting the product.
It was a toss-up between Bing, Anita, and Mrs. Brady.
ReplyDeleteI just like the name "Bing."
Dear Mr. Larsen,
ReplyDeletePlease allow us to share further information.
By law, 100% orange juice is made only from oranges with no added sugars or preservatives. When oranges are processed, natural components such as orange aroma, orange oil from the peel, and pulp may be separated from the orange juice. After the juice is pasteurized, these natural orange components may be added back to the orange juice for optimal flavor.
Approximately 68 percent of Canadian orange juice comes from the United States. This orange juice is processed in strict compliance with all Canadian Food Inspection Agency regulations. By utilizing state-of-the-art technology, Florida is able to provide a consistent supply of high quality, nutritious orange juice year round.
Please visit www.OrangeJuiceFacts.com for more information about orange juice.
Sincerely,
Karen Mathis
Florida Department of Citrus
Wow! An official response from Florida Citrus. Good job Kenton!
ReplyDeleteI'm a huge fan of Tropicana Grovestand OJ (the one with lots of pulp)and I think it's the best OJ out there. I don't care what someone claims, because it's still damn good juice.