Zerohedge reports soaring orange juice prices:

Frozen concentrated orange juice futures on the Intercontinental Exchange in New York are nearing new record highs. The squeeze in the physical markets may drastically worsen after a new citrus grove survey damage report across Florida following Hurricane Milton shows widespread damage.

Industry consultant Judy Ganes told Bloomberg that more than three million boxes of oranges may have been lost after Milton knocked fruit from branches and devastated citrus groves in the Sunshine State. She warned the next Florida harvest could be the worst since the late 1920s.

In recent years, Hurricanes Ian and Nicole, freezing conditions, and citrus greening disease have decimated citrus groves in the state. Milton has only exacerbated those problems. Some of the latest industry figures show that US orange production is set to reach its lowest level in more than a century.

OJ futures have surged to $5/lb, a staggering 433% jump from the Covid lows of around $1/lb. Worsening supply woes could push prices even higher.

Brazil, the world’s top OJ producer, has ramped up OJ shipments to the US to offset sliding Florida production. But now, as we noted last month, Brazil has been hit by a devastating drought and widespread crop disease that has severely impacted yields across citrus groves.

Rabobank analyst Andrés Padilla warned that Brazil has slipped into the “worst drought in 50 years” and “there’s really been very, very little rain across the citrus belt in the last four months, which is an important period.”

Padilla said, “The smallest crop in 35 years, plus rising citrus greening disease, plus drought — it’s the perfect storm,” adding, “The market is really stressed.”

“There’s no juice in the market,” Padilla warned, explaining, “That’s why we’re back to record high prices.”

That doesn’t sound good! After all, orange juice is one of the MAJOR BREAKFAST FOOD GROUPS, right alongside the Bacon Group, Egg Group, Coffee Group, Toast Group and Bloody Mary Group.

We used to live in Frostproof, Florida, in a small trailer park sandwiched between orange groves. It was there that I first discovered the truth about “fresh-squeezed orange juice.”

The truth?

“Fresh” orange juice is often kept in huge tanks for long periods of time

Sure, freshly squeezed sounds like it was squeezed just a few days ago, but no – it is marketing speak. The oranges were squeezed when fresh, yes. But the juice you’re drinking may have been stored for many months.

As Civil Eats reports:

In the 1980s Tropicana coined the phrase “not from concentrate” to distinguish its pasteurized orange juice from the cheaper reconstituted “from concentrate” juice that began appearing alongside it in the refrigerator section of supermarkets. The idea was to convince consumers that pasteurized orange juice is a fresher, overall better product and therefore worth the higher price. It worked. Over the next five years sales of Tropicana’s pasteurized juice doubled and profits almost tripled.

In fact, “not from concentrate,” a.k.a pasteurized orange juice, is not more expensive than “from concentrate” because it is closer to fresh squeezed. Rather, it is because storing full strength pasteurized orange juice is more costly and elaborate than storing the space saving concentrate from which “from concentrate” is made. The technology of choice at the moment is aseptic storage, which involves stripping the juice of oxygen, a process known as “deaeration,” so it doesn’t oxidize in the million gallon tanks in which it can be kept for upwards of a year.

When the juice is stripped of oxygen it is also stripped of flavor providing chemicals. Juice companies therefore hire flavor and fragrance companies, the same ones that formulate perfumes for Dior and Calvin Klein, to engineer flavor packs to add back to the juice to make it taste fresh. Flavor packs aren’t listed as an ingredient on the label because technically they are derived from orange essence and oil. Yet those in the industry will tell you that the flavor packs, whether made for reconstituted or pasteurized orange juice, resemble nothing found in nature. The packs added to juice earmarked for the North American market tend to contain high amounts of ethyl butyrate, a chemical in the fragrance of fresh squeezed orange juice that, juice companies have discovered, Americans favor. Mexicans and Brazilians have a different palate. Flavor packs fabricated for juice geared to these markets therefore highlight different chemicals, the decanals say, or terpene compounds such as valencine.

Ah, science!

Pesticides in Orange Juice

If you want real orange juice, instead of an Ultra-processed Food, you need to buy oranges, or grow your own.

I recommend the latter, climate permitting, since I don’t trust the oranges you buy in the grocery store to be free of pesticides.

Residues of two pesticides – thiabendazole and imazalil – were present in oranges. The concentration of the pesticide residues was found to be higher in the peel, but a small amount of imazalil was present in the pulp as well. Washing with hot water and with dishwashing soap removed residues of thiabendazole, but none of the used methods could completely remove imazalil. The reason for this is the diffusion of polar imazalil into and through the peel of oranges. So consumers cannot be sure of avoiding post-harvest pesticides just by washing. Some residues of pesticides will be present even after removing the peel.

It’s okay, though – the EPA has granted to imazalil “a reasonable certainty of no harm.”

Imazalil is a systemic fungicide for post harvest use on bananas, citrus, and preplanting seed treatments of barley and wheat. Its only nonfood use is for chicken hatchery treatments. There are no residential or public health uses. Approximately 6000 lbs. a.i. of imazalil are used annually. It can be applied by seed treatment equipment, drenches, waxing and foaming equipment, handwand sprayers and smoke canisters. There are 15 registered products including two technical grade products. Formulations include Magnate technical (98.50-98.94% active ingredient), one impregnated material (14.9% a.i.), four liquids (up to 31% a.i.), seven emulsifiable concentrates (up to 68.25% a.i.), and a flowable concentrate (10% a.i.). Impregnated material is used in smoke generators. Imazalil was first registered by Janssen Pharmaceutica (FIFRA Section 3) in 1983. Since then, imazalil has continuously had one or more FIFRA Section 3 registrations for postharvest use on citrus fruits against various fungi. In 1984, the Agency first registered imazalil for use as a seed treatment, and in 1990 for use in chicken hatcheries. EPA completed the tolerance reassessment for imazalil on July 12, 2002. The Agency concluded that there is a reasonable certainty of no harm to any population subgroup from aggregate exposure to imazalil from dietary (food and water) exposure and all other non-occupational sources for which there is reliable information. 

Yet as the Environmental Working Group states:

Tests commissioned by EWG in 2020 found the two hormone-disrupting fungicides, imazalil and thiabendazole, on nearly 90 percent of non-organic citrus fruit samples. More than half the samples contained both fungicides.

Both chemicals disrupt the body’s hormones, or endocrine system, which regulates metabolism, growth and development, and other important functions. They can also harm the reproductive system, and California classifies imazalil as a chemical known to cause cancer.

In January and July 2020, EWG scientists purchased and peeled 25 samples of conventionally grown grapefruit, lemons, mandarins and oranges. The edible portion of the fruit was tested for pesticide residues by an independent laboratory accredited by California.

The highest levels of imazalil and thiabendazole were found on mandarins, including clementines, followed by oranges and then grapefruit. Organic samples of two oranges and one grapefruit did not have detectable levels of fungicides. (For detailed results, see the Appendix.) The fungicides detected on citrus are typically applied after harvesting to prolong shelf life and prevent rotting.

The average concentration of imazalil detected in all fruits tested was about 20 times the amount EWG scientists recommend as a limit to protect children against increased risk of cancer. For thiabendazole, more research is needed to determine a safe limit for children’s health.

They also report much higher rates of contamination on the imported citrus they tested:

The average amount of imazalil on imported samples was more than four times the amount found on U.S.-grown samples, although three imported samples contained no detectable pesticide residues. The amounts of thiabendazole on domestic and imported samples were similar, except for one imported clementine sample, which contained the highest level.

The food you grow and process yourself is better than what you get from the grocery store.

Modern orange juice isn’t the same juice you get from squeezing oranges.

In fact, it may be an ultra-processed “food.”

What is Ultra-Processed Food?

An article from the US Government’s Public Health and Nutrition site defines ultra-processed foods in the following manner:

Ultra-processed foods are formulations of ingredients, mostly of exclusive industrial use, that result from a series of industrial processes (hence ‘ultra-processed’).

Processes enabling the manufacture of ultra-processed foods involve several steps and different industries. It starts with the fractioning of whole foods into substances that include sugars, oils and fats, proteins, starches and fibre. These substances are often obtained from a few high-yield plant foods (corn, wheat, soya, cane or beet) and from puréeing or grinding animal carcasses, usually from intensive livestock farming. Some of these substances are then submitted to hydrolysis, or hydrogenation, or other chemical modifications. Subsequent processes involve the assembly of unmodified and modified food substances with little if any whole food using industrial techniques such as extrusion, moulding and pre-frying. Colours, flavours, emulsifiers and other additives are frequently added to make the final product palatable or hyper-palatable. Processes end with sophisticated packaging usually with synthetic materials.

Sugar, oils and fats, and salt, used to make processed foods, are often ingredients of ultra-processed foods, generally in combination. Additives that prolong product duration, protect original properties and prevent proliferation of micro-organisms may be used in both processed and ultra-processed foods, as well as in processed culinary ingredients, and, infrequently, in minimally processed foods.

Ingredients that are characteristic of ultra-processed foods can be divided into food substances of no or rare culinary use and classes of additives whose function is to make the final product palatable or often hyper-palatable (‘cosmetic additives’). Food substances of no or rare culinary use, and used only in the manufacture of ultra-processed foods, include varieties of sugars (fructose, high-fructose corn syrup, ‘fruit juice concentrates’, invert sugar, maltodextrin, dextrose, lactose), modified oils (hydrogenated or interesterified oils) and protein sources (hydrolysed proteins, soya protein isolate, gluten, casein, whey protein and ‘mechanically separated meat’). Cosmetic additives, also used only in the manufacture of ultra-processed foods, are flavours, flavour enhancers, colours, emulsifiers, emulsifying salts, sweeteners, thickeners, and anti-foaming, bulking, carbonating, foaming, gelling and glazing agents. These classes of additives disguise undesirable sensory properties created by ingredients, processes or packaging used in the manufacture of ultra-processed foods, or else give the final product sensory properties especially attractive to see, taste, smell and/or touch.

Ultra-processed foods include carbonated soft drinks; sweet or savoury packaged snacks; chocolate, candies (confectionery); ice cream; mass-produced packaged breads and buns; margarines and other spreads; cookies (biscuits), pastries, cakes and cake mixes; breakfast ‘cereals’; pre-prepared pies and pasta and pizza dishes; poultry and fish ‘nuggets’ and ‘sticks’, sausages, burgers, hot dogs and other reconstituted meat products; powdered and packaged ‘instant’ soups, noodles and desserts; and many other products (see online supplementary material, Supplemental Table 1).

Processes and ingredients used for the manufacture of ultra-processed foods are designed to create highly profitable products (low-cost ingredients, long shelf-life, branded products) which are liable to displace all other NOVA food groups. Their convenience (imperishable, ready-to-consume), hyper-palatability, branding and ownership by transnational corporations, and aggressive marketing give ultra-processed foods enormous market advantages over all other NOVA food groups. Marketing strategies used worldwide include vivid packaging, health claims, special deals with retailers to secure prime shelf space, establishment of franchised catering outlets, and campaigns using social, electronic, broadcast and print media, including to children and in schools, often with vast budgets. All this explains why ultra-processed foods have been successful in displacing unprocessed or minimally processed foods and freshly prepared dishes and meals – or ‘real food’ – in most parts of the world^{( 7, 45– 47)}.

The nature of the processes and ingredients used in their manufacture, and their displacement of unprocessed or minimally processed foods and freshly prepared dishes and meals, make ultra-processed foods intrinsically unhealthy. The disorders and diseases associated with diets largely made up from ultra-processed foods, and the mechanisms linking these diets to specific diseases, are described elsewhere^( 40). The displacement of ‘real food’ by ultra-processed foods is also a cause of social, cultural, economic, political and environmental disruption and crises. These are also described elsewhere^( 40).

PHN further notes:

Cosmetic additives are at the end of lists of ingredients of ultra-processed foods, together with other additives. As said above, cosmetic additives include flavours, flavour enhancers, colours, emulsifiers, emulsifying salts, sweeteners, thickeners, and anti-foaming, bulking, carbonating, foaming, gelling and glazing agents. The presence in the list of ingredients of one or more additives that belong to these classes of additives also identifies a product as ultra-processed.

Well, sounds like a lot of orange juice isn’t the pure and natural juice one might expect from the lovely packaging.

How Much Trust Do You Have?

Though the relative dangers may be overstated, and it might be that “freshly squeezed” orange juice is almost as good as what you grow… I doubt it.

Think of how many times you’ve been lied to by companies. Do you trust them? Do you trust the regulators?

I tend to take all their statements with a large grain of salt.

Grow your own food, and your own oranges, and you know what is entering your body and how it was processed.

The best, safest, most delicious food can be grown in your backyard, where it hasn’t been shipped and handled and manipulated and sprayed and processed and flavored and pasteurized and treated with gas, fungicide, stabilizers, etc.

Seriously. Do yourself a favor and grow your own food.

Even if you think the health concerns are blown way out of proportion, growing your own food will help you beat shortages and beat inflation. Once you have a good garden or a food forest in your yard, your food prices don’t go up along with grocery store prices. And you’ll get the freshest food possible. We eat organic berries by the gallon from our backyard. Organic sweet potatoes. Home-raised pork chops and bacon. Raw milk from our cows. Greens without a hint of pesticide.

You can do it too. And, as always, if you need help – join my community. I’m giving away my easy food forest course to anyone that joins. Once you’re in, you can watch it for free.

With a glass of orange juice, if you like.

If you can afford orange juice.