I have been reading many articles and blogs on the subject of additives – ranging from preservatives to color to flavor and anything you can imagine in between. I have to pose the question – why is this necessary?

Let’s look at the most prominent example I have been reading about recently – the flavor variety. I can’t help but wonder, surrounded by an abundance of flavorful healthy choices, why do so many companies insist on producing unpalatable foods that require a flavor boost or overhaul in order to be enjoyed?

Orange juice is something that a vast majority of us enjoy on a daily basis. And most of us shell out the extra dough for what we think is the healthier choice – most commonly the Tropicana or Simply Orange – type of fare. The rational adult would assume they are getting the juice of oranges, including more or less pulp depending upon personal preference. One would be correct – except have you ever had a glass of freshly squeezed OJ? Not only is the taste far superior, but it is – as most organic things are – slightly different in flavor every time.  Ever wonder why every glass of the big brand OJ tastes EXACTLY the same? Brand uniformity is common and understandable, but where I tend to get lost is a bigger picture qualm. Let me begin by explaining a bit about the production process.

Essentially, since oranges are a seasonal crop and OJ is a year round staple in our minds, vats of the juice must be harvested and stored in order to keep up with demand. In order to do this and keep the harvest from spoiling – oxygen is removed. Sadly, this also removes most of the flavor of the juice in the process. In order to restore the flavor for distribution at a later time – the industry uses something called a flavor pack (a compound technically derived from orange essence and oil – which most chemists will tell you resemble nothing found in nature once they reach the state they are used for in this example). Truth being; the overall percentage of this additive in your OJ is negligent. However, I can’t help but be bothered by this. There are so many products on your supermarket shelf that masquerade as “healthy,” “natural,” “a great source of (fill in the blank)” and the reality is, so much of that is simply not true. Sure, many of these foods were at one point during the production process many of those things, but once they reach the shelf so much of that goodness was removed. But that’s another conversation entirely. I’ll talk more about refining processes soon, I promise.

In any case, I present this to you in the hope that you will arm yourself with some consumer savvy and learn to question what you’re told on the package. It almost always is a stretch form the truth.