Have you checked your food labels recently on items you purchase faithfully every week? If not you may want to start because it seems that Florida’s Natural has made some major changes to their orange juice and most consumers, myself included were (and some still are) oblivious to the changes made to their product.
What’s Changed at Florida’s Natural?
Such is the case with Florida’s Natural. You know the orange juice that used to be made with 100% Florida grown oranges. Did you pick up on those three important words in the previous sentence “used to be”? Yes you read that right Florida’s Natural is no longer made with 100% Florida oranges and if that’s not bad enough it is also made from concentrate too.
Deceptive Packaging? You Decide
Sure the packaging looks almost the same. Almost. The USA flag is still there along with the words farmer owned in the USA (whatever that means now) deceptively making the product appear to be the same old orange juice you know and love.
The only difference is the wording in the center which now reads:
From Concentrate
A premium blend of Florida not-from-concentrate orange juice
and the best orange juice from Mexico.
Hopefully the FDA will force Florida’s Natural to make changes to reflect their new “global ingredient list.” Because one could argue that having the United States flag prominently displayed on their product in two places makes the consumer believe that this product is grown in the USA and does not use imported ingredients.
Concentrate or Not from Concentrate That is the Question
OK so which is it? Is it from concentrate or not from concentrate? It seems like Florida’s Natural is still playing games with the consumer. The reality is that Florida’s Natural is now a hybrid from concentrate and not from concentrate (is that really a thing?) orange juice. Ask them what the percentage of each is and you won’t get an answer. The same way their packaging fails to mention the percentage of glyphosate in their juice or the flavor enhancers that are added to this product. There was even a lawsuit in 2013 about the flavor and aroma added to Florida’s Natural. So much for being “natural.”
Someone should tell Florida’s Natural that having a product made from concentrate from oranges imported from Mexico is not exactly giving the consumer a premium product.
Why the Changes to Florida’s Natural?
So what’s their reason for moving from 100% Florida oranges to a hybrid from concentrate blend? Apparently Florida is having a problem with orange production and crops are down 70% right now. But instead of sourcing orange juice concentrate from Mexico Florida’s Natural could have continued the grown in the USA tradition that they based their entire brand and marketing around and sourced oranges from Texas, California and Arizona. Instead they chose to go with imported oranges.
Goodbye Florida’s Natural
I used to drink Florida’s Natural. Not anymore. Last week was my last purchase of this orange juice. Unfortunately there are no other brands that make their product with 100% USA grown oranges from concentrate (if you know of any let me know). So I will either try other not from concentrate brands or juice my own oranges.
