Food Standards of Identity Modernization; Pasteurized Orange Juice
Key claim: The FDA finalized a rule amending the pasteurized orange juice standard of identity by lowering the minimum soluble solids content from 10.5° to 10° Brix and allowing up to 15% Citrus reticulata or hybrid juice by volume.
Abstract
(Rule · Health and Human Services Department, Food and Drug Administration) The Food and Drug Administration (FDA or we) is issuing a final rule to amend the standard of identity for pasteurized orange juice by lowering the minimum orange juice soluble solids content from 10.5[deg] to 10[deg] Brix and permitting up to 15 percent Citrus reticulata juice or Citrus reticulata hybrid juice, by volume. This final rule modernizes the pasteurized orange juice standard. This action responds to two citizen petitions: one submitted by the Florida Citrus Processors Association Inc. and the Florida Citrus Mutual Inc., and another submitted by the Florida Department of Citrus, the Florida Citrus Mutual, and the Juice Products Association.
Why this matters
This rule modernizes a decades-old FDA compositional standard to reflect the reality that citrus greening has reduced the sugar content and yields of Florida oranges, giving processors flexibility to keep marketing product as ‘pasteurized orange juice’ rather than reformulating or relabeling. For consumers it means a slightly less sweet minimum product that may contain up to 15% tangerine or hybrid juice; for growers and processors it preserves market access and price support for a shrinking domestic citrus crop, with minimal expected effect on retail juice prices.