OJ

What OJ?

I'm in a local grocery store, staring at the selection of orange juice cartons, and I realize that I cannot make a decision. What brand to buy? Organic, fresh, with or without pulp, the 100% pure or what? What does it all mean and how am I to know what to get? I mean really. I know what they taste like, I can see what they cost, I can read the marketing pitches from the sides of the cartons, and I still don't know. Prices range from one to three euros a litre.


Orange juice is a a stable in any breakfast table in the developed world and this has made it big business. After some research, I came to realize that the selection really is just this:

Fresh
Freshly squeezed OJ. Basically, this means that the glass has seen a real orange peel and all.
Often this juice is made by your own hands or right in front of you. It tastes bad, as oranges are bitter, the natural pH of OJ is 3,5. Unless the oranges are in their peak season, you want to add some sugar.

Fake
NFC or Not From Concentrate, means oranges turn into orange juice near where they grow, and are then shipped to your breakfast table. The juice will keep around 4 weeks from the squiizery to your fridge. Then it starts to loose some taste and even turn bitter, so it's pointless to try the various magic tricks to make it keep for longer. The carton claims that only the fruits own sugar is added. Well, the added sugar is not from the fruit, but an estimate of what quantity they took out. Also some artificial aroma has to be added, (and pulp, for those who want it) added to it. The juice is not fresh and does not taste fresh naturally, so it is forced upon it.

Honest and sensible
FCOJ Frozen concentrate orange juice. This is what the vast majority of the OJ served anywhere is made out of. After collection, the oranges squeezed and concentrated, most of the fluid is drained and the concentrate is frozen and shipped to a factory near you. It then needs a lot of water, some sugar and flavourings. Only the (estimated) amount that it has lost, is allowed to be added. Some vitamins are usually added, information about this is posted on the carton boldly, if that is the case.

Concentrate
This is the same as above, but you add the water yourself. This would be the most sensible choice for any breakfast table, but is frown upon since the OJ business has made it sound bad. Growing up in a family of six, orange juice wasn't abundant and had to be rationed. Not that it ever was a free commodity, but the price wasn't the real issue. It was the fact that there was no way my mom was to carry tens of kilos of drinks from every shopping trip. After fleeing "home" and moving on my own, the first luxury I decided to have was a full litre of orange juice, every day. As a grown up, I could now do what I wanted - and that was what I wanted. I carried it home in my backpack and sometimes I even took the stairs four flights up to really appreciate the precious juice. I wish I had had the sense to opt for this quality concentrate and add some sugar, boldly, when necessary.

So, what juice to choose? Well, the vitamins in those juices, you don't really need them, you're getting plenty. The no added sugar? That is a lie. There is always added sugar, it is just the "estimated" amount that there should be, to make it taste like fresh OJ. Artificial flavouring is always added.

So, what are the differences?
The method of making the juice does not matter, it will always have something added, thankfully. Otherwise it will taste horrible.
So what about the options then?
The green option? OJ is produced mainly in Brazil, USA and Mexico. It is shipped from the equator, there is no organic option here, forget about the organic juice. It takes 100 liters of fresh water to make one glass of OJ. There is no green option.
The ethical option? Please, this is big business. OJ is a commodity traded in the New York Board of Trade and the Brazilian Mercantile and Futures Exchange. Big traders include Coca-Cola (minute maid) and Pepsi (Tropicana). There is no ethical option.

So, the choice? If it is made from oranges, tastes good, has me vitamins while being cheap and available, I'll buy that.