Have you ever stopped to look at your orange juice label? If you have, you have likely either seen “from concentrate” or “not from concentrate” on the container. If you have found yourself wondering what this means, keep reading!
The difference between the two is simple: “From concentrate” means your orange juice went through an extra process where it reached high temperatures so that water could be removed for ease of packaging and shipment, making it cheaper to get the orange juice to you, and producing a longer shelf life. The water is added back into the orange juice before it reaches you on the shelf. That’s it.
This process has historically been given a bad rep because some companies have included other preservatives and added sugars into that process as well. But this isn’t the case for all! Before you go to the store and pay more for a “not from concentrate” bottle of orange juice, read your labels. The label will tell you if any funny business happened during the process for that specific bottle of orange juice. And, by the way, bad ingredients can be added to “not from concentrate” juices as well so, if you choose to stick with these, you should be checking out those ingredients lists too.
Check your fridge! What does your bottle of orange juice say?