How "premium" orange juice is really made (CBC Marketplace)

it's morning at marketplace and we've invited these viewers over to put one of their favorite morning rituals to the test a taste test to be exact this is the best time of day to taste anything like most of you this bunch love to start the day with a glass of orange juice I won't say I do have to wine glass at 8:00 but if they're thinking it's all sunshine and vitamins [Music] we're about to pop some balloons warning all and spill some juicy secrets in front of each of our tasters six samples of orange juice and one simple question Wish juice tickles their taste buds best rate each one and then at the end decide which one you think is the freshest tasting one sounds fairly straightforward yes helping us out is Conrad edge Beck now the fruit of the vine is his usual choice but this wine expert says judging juice of any kind isn't all that different what I'm looking for is a sense of life a natural fruit in this case orange I want no aspect of chemistry or artificiality that's what I'm looking for our testers have no labels to read though you will soon and no idea which brand of OJ they're tasting is kind of cheap tasting and a little bit stale it hasn't been squeezed five minutes ago that's for sure like this this might be this might be firm concentrate I don't know so far it's a guessing game but weighing Garan and his daughters are hoping this test will help peel back some answers the Garen family doesn't just love their OJ they guzzle it down to the tune of six cartons a month that's 50 glasses between them their fridge isn't just running it's getting a workout I want the but you don't drink that much OJ without noticing a thing or two that's all that's in it 100% orange juice like the promise of pure and natural juice so he's got one simple question for us so why does the orange juice in the store that I buy taste so different than freshly squeezed good question Wayne the OJ Wayne's asking about are the premium brands such as these most of us believe they're better than frozen concentrate that's OJ where water's been taken out then put back in marketplace Commission's a poll and finds 58% of Canadian OJ fans believe premium brands are more natural than juices made from concentrate and say they're willing to pay more for that difference up to twice as much so how natural is premium OJ I do my good good thing so you're in the number two what do you think of it it's just one of the secrets we're after at our taste test taste sweet is our sampled tongue swirled notes scribbled our group doesn't know it but our six samples break down this way two are from concentrate three not from concentrate at our secret weapon a glass of freshly squeezed it's all orange juice officially at least but our testers say they do taste different from each other it's a smell from like youth right you know mine too why is that we've got a secret expert in the room with the first clue orange juice manufacturers are trying now to imitate the taste of processed orange juice rather than ELISA Hamilton loves oranges she just doesn't like what the juice industry does to them and she should know because she's written a book on it called squeezed what you don't know about orange juice orange juice industry has definitely profited from the idea that this is a simple natural direct product is it orange juice natural you can squeeze it at home and you're getting a natural juice but most of the juices that you're buying in the store are heavily processed and engineered engineered that's not a word the big horse juice makers use this is how juice makers have sold it for decades as if oranges fall off the tree and into your carton there are 16 fresh picked oranges squeezed into each carton of Tropicana pure premium 100% pure 100% natural from Grove to simply orange honestly simple but the truth is really not that simple if the juice makers told you the real deal here's how a commercial might look come join me by the time Oh Jay reaches your table this miracle of nature has become a miracle of manipulation the oranges are plucked from their perch and land on an assembly line where they're sprayed and squeezed in the juice next is here for pasteurization heating up then audit huge tanks where the juice can be stored for months sometimes up to a year the oxygen is taken out so nothing goes bad but one pretty important quality does go most of the orange flavor so how do they put it back in juice makers use something called flavor packs okay hang on zing so you're saying that they they make so much orange juice and store it for so long and then they have people add flavor to it later exactly how I asked for the precise time when the flavor is at it it's added I was actually told we'd have to shoot you if we don't do that so what there's a lot of secrecy around what they do because they don't they don't want this to be perceived as a heavily processed product it's a secret formula for making money in Canada worth almost half a billion dollars in sales Pepsi which makes Tropicana we got almost two thirds of that it's simply orange so how much added flavor are we buying I think that's what whoa that looks good to figure it out associate producer Anu and I are packing up samples getting ready to send them off to a lab how'd I do wait a minute host flavor packs are made up of natural components of orange essence and oils broken-down mixed and matched then rebuilt by chemists flavor packs help juice taste the same year round we're searching for one chemical in particular ethyl butyrate juice makers no North Americans like the smell and equate it to a fresh squeezed orange so they boost flavor with it we want to see for ourselves okay they're both marked among the brands going to the lab some from our taste test Tropicana simply orange and Canadian brand Oasis with pulp not a pop guy myself you know we also make freshly-squeezed for a baseline all right off to grandmother's house it'll add two weeks later we find ethyl butyrate and all our samples now the amount can vary depending on the crop and time of year but the premium juice all have levels higher than freshly squeezed you could see it in the taste testing I could smell immediately which one was fresh because it was probably different than the smell of it was than the others and the same goes for the taste ethyl butyrate is naturally occurring in oranges anyway so what's the problem with adding it later in the process well you're not adding it back in the concentrations that exist in nature so what you're getting back in in these flavor packs is an engineered product [Music] back at our taste test we reveal how OJ makers boost flavor the fact is it's made it a very different way they add flavor what do you think of that not a lot of the packages that says made from pure 100% orange juice no sugar added no water at it what is added so we should we should be aware of that at the next table Alex Herbert can't believe what he's hearing or what he's drinking I'm angry I'm angry hey I feel duped that's 100% why it's just I want to know what's in my food and they're telling me oh look it's being picked off a tree but really it's not freshly peed alex is about to become a student on a mission when we come back come on over and try a smell test he's out to educate one squirt at a time that's our shoot that's orange juice and we expose how companies avoid giving you the full story we deserve to know and we're not being told and we're not being told and later who's hungry we serve up the truth about breakfast sandwiches don't skip our breakfast snacks join us on Facebook and Twitter [Music] we're revealing juicy secrets about your glass of OJ and marketplace viewer Alex Herbert that's giving us a hint so what's the way Alex we've told him that premium orange juice is heavily processed and that flavor packs are added it's all left a sour taste in his mouth so now alex is ready to reveal the secrets that OJ makers don't want you to know excellent come on over and try a smell test if you have a good nose so hold your wrist and give that a smell what do you think it is to help illustrate the flavor story we put some Tropicana in a perfume bottle and put it alongside real perfume I have the original X and I have the little home that's orange juice sorry what's the reason behind our spray test it's another juicy secret turns out the same company that gives this perfume it smelled also gives this orange juice its taste that's right the flavor packs are fashioned by fragrance companies but Ken are samplers sniff it out maybe like a little tangerine or something like that well this one deathly smells more natural than what have I told you that the company that makes the perfume smell so good makes orange juice tastes so good same company we explained to our sniffers why their juice needs freshening up and flavouring up when our shoes is mass-produced it's pasteurized heated and then stored for months even a year in huge vats so that process strips it of its flavor they add flavor late in the process these are flavor packs that are net natural flavors created by the fragrance companies that's added to the process to make the juice taste like orange juice again Wow as an industrial model I think it's it's obviously impressive but I think in terms of a personal level I find it kind of frightening if I have to think about my fresh-squeezed orange juice or my fresh orange juice in the container I pick up every week do you believe that not anymore I think I want to buy my own oranges and make juice myself yes it should be on a nutrition label perhaps but added flavor is nowhere to be found on any label despite the fact the Canadian Food Inspection Agency has rules saying it should our poll reveals Canadians want the full story ninety-five percent of our shoes fans believe any added ingredient should be included on the carton our expert ELISA Hamilton says OJ makers show us the truth if you love your Tropicana or whatever orange juice it is that you like and you know what you're getting and you know what you're paying for fine but know what you're getting and we deserve to know and we're not being told and we're not being told Alex Herber thinks that's wrong he finds out one way to get the CFIA to act is find a complaint so he does porta concern labeling all right submit and let's see what happens [Music] as for the orange juice makers they argue they're just putting natural flavor back in juice that was lost during processing and even though OJ is more science than nature a label doesn't need to reflect that fact meantime a long list of American consumers is forcing their hand suing the big OJ makers for misleading them charging premium prices for a juice that's so processed no lawsuits here but when we ask the companies from our taste test for an on-camera interview they say no some people might feel that they're being misled when they're buying a premium processed orange juice are they being slit if they're thinking that it's fresh-squeezed if they're thinking that this is what they're getting that image yes they're being misled juice makers may be keeping silent but their secrets are out the only thing left to reveal the engineered OJ our tasters like best Oasis so that's the favorite premium but there's no substitute for that role - fresh-squeezed gets top ranking like you get the a surprise twist though many say they'll stick to the process done first please I always thought was orange e'er and that's fine that's good what did you think of the last one six it tasted very much like fresh orange juice but honestly I get that as fresh I just didn't like it as much I think so that the stuff that maybe out of a box you'd prefer them the one right out of the orange honestly I guess I'm just used to the whole marketed flavor of orange juice that it apparently doesn't do it for Wayne Garren's family either even though they now know why premium juice tastes different from freshly squeezed defining out which orange juice was the pure orange juice and I may just start doing that everyone make your freshly squeezed yes maybe it's time to put the squeeze on OJ makers to be simply honest after the break how popular breakfast sandwiches DAC up can you beat our breakfast quiz find out now at cbc.ca slash marketplace [Music] a busy morning in downtown Toronto you're on the move in a rush so Cabo breakfast with marketplace on a Toronto streetcar hey everyone we're serving up breakfast at market place what's on the menu a hot trend breakfast sandwiches with every early morning rise you rub the sleep out of your eyes seemed suddenly ads form are everywhere this is turkey yeah turkey sausage good right it's great you two can be the picture of health if you eat the right breakfast [Music] we've got turkey sausage bacon everyone who's hungry okay Sashi sure can I have a bacon I love breakfast urges what do you like about a breakfast sandwich um grab and go handy for people who don't have time and that's how they're sold to us what do you like about it it's quick it's easy take it on the go yeah small wonder the industry's hungry to win you over south-of-the-border the first meal of the day is a forty two billion dollar business and growing they look fresh and hot but which ones are a better way to start the day we bite into three popular choices from three of Canada's biggest restaurant chains from Starbucks the sausage and cheddar sandwich on an English muffin we've got McDonald's bacon and egg on a whole grain bagel and Tim Hortons turkey sausage on a biscuit I would love to have this table of sausage okay empting but how much sodium's under that wrapper a bunch of sodium in it almost a thousand milligrams oh my goodness that's not good at all says nutritionist Leslie Beck adults aged 19 to 50 need every day only 1500 milligrams of sodium for health so if you have a breakfast sandwich that's got a thousand milligrams of sodium you've already consumed two two-thirds of your days worth of sodium in one meal the McDonald's option even more sodium and Tim's tops the chart too much of that is linked with a greater risk of high blood pressure stroke kidney stones and maybe even obesity and what do these commuters know about how much fat these handheld breakfasts are serving up at Tim Hortons option 21 grams of fat no I don't want to eat it McDonald's bacon and egg sandwich and Starbucks sausage and cheddar both almost 30 grams of fat and is about half the fat that someone should have in a whole day thank you and how do these brekkie stack up when it comes to counting calories there are more calories in it than in a Big Mac really yep miss MacDonald's bacon and egg on a multigrain bagel like 610 calories Haiti more than a big map I did not know that that is very gross to hear it's supposed to be a breakfast sandwich it's not a good way to start the day as for the more pricey Starbucks option the straight walk to your destination and that leaves our Tim Hortons sandwich made with Turkey turkey is supposed to be like the least fat meat that's what I heard that cookies the best meat is it we hit three drive-throughs to find out I'd like to order a blood sandwich please which one has steerer calories the bacon or the turkey sausage carcass turkey sausage sounds right but the turkey sandwich is a bit bigger so get bacon or turkey on a biscuit and you're actually taking in the same amount of fat and calories they see the word turkey on the menu and they think that's a healthier choice but turkey sausage is not turkey breast it's a so it's gonna have more sodium and also more fat since so many of us still have to eat on the go how can we make better choices if you're looking to save calories opt for an English muffin because they are smaller there's less bread they all have an English muffin auction like the golden arches basic Egg McMuffin the breakfast sandwich that started this craze more than 40 years ago it's got fewer than 300 calories the next thing choose egg whites if you want to cut cholesterol and saturated fat that's definitely a lighter choice Tim Hortons egg white breakfast sandwich just 220 calories and skip the meat that you don't need the meat in the breakfast sandwich you're getting protein but unfortunately it's greasy salt-laden protein how about Starbucks spinach and feta wrap with egg whites also in the under 300 calories Club but spoiler alert its packing a lot of sodium everyone's fed for better or worse so that's a wrap on breakfast sandwiches next week on marketplace will help you hold on to your cash we reveal who's got their hand in your pocket I'm just Barbara Cassidy I can't believe that are you really getting when you're paying for before being hoodwinked into paying something they don't have to pay we'll show how you can fight back very happy with marketplace and very happy with myself for doing something good so you can stash your cash you [Music]

Channel: CBC News

Views: 3,325,841

Rating: 4.6858935 out of 5

Keywords: Orange Juice (Beverage Type), Orange (Ingredient), Food (TV Genre), Canada, Breakfast (Type Of Dish), processed food, natural, Healthy Diet (Diet), Marketplace (Award-Winning Work), Diet (Industry), Dieting (Symptom)

Id: 8e4CEm9yybo

Length: 22min 38sec (1358 seconds)

Published: Fri Jan 16 2015

Reddit Comments

[u/walkingman24]

This was really interesting, but man was the video really rambling and feels like it was stretched a lot for time.

[u/JoeBidensLegHair]

It always surprises me that people don't stop for a moment to ask why that same brand of OJ tastes identical from carton to carton, year after year with absolutely no variation.

[u/jl_theprofessor]

Sir, do you realize you're not drinking regular coffee but Columbian decaffeinated coffee crystals?

​

Seriously though, imagine believing that orange juice was natural flavor, like it all got hand squeezed into those jugs.

[u/jeremyjack3333]

I used to work in a cocktail bar and fresh squeezed orange juice only has a shelf life of about two days, and that's refrigerated. I honestly don't know how it came to be one of the most common table juices at that rate. The flavor is nowhere near as acidic as store bought, either. Not surprising that it's pumped full of citric acid and other preservatives for more common uses in my opinion.

[u/seamus_quigley]

I would have liked them to press people a little further on their opinion. Do they have a problem that flavour packs are being added at all? Or that the flavour packs aren't mimicking freshly squeezed orange juice?

The pasteurisation and storage process is responsible for the original loss of flavour. But you know what? It's also responsible for the inexpensive availability of Orange Juice year round, because trees don't perpetually drop a steady supply of ripe oranges year round.

[u/Ed_Trucks_Head]

I bought a squeezer for five bucks. Way better than store bought.

[u/theDaveB]

When I was in Spain, in the supermarkets they had these big juicers full of oranges and you put a container underneath and it squeezed the oranges while you watched and filled the container. Wasn’t cold but tasted good.

[u/killfire4]

Mmmm ethyl butyrate

[u/LateralusYellow]

It's a simple fact that orange juice can not be sold naturally, at least not for a price most people would pay, it just goes bad too quickly.