They're Messing With Our Orange Juice!
Controversy in the juice aisle! The St. Petersburg Times reports that the Florida Department of Citrus is cracking down on deceptive labeling of orange juice cartons. At issue are HomeMaker Premium cartons that say "100% Pure Florida Squeezed" at the top; on the bottom, in smaller print, is "Blended with Valencia orange juice. From concentrate."
The department has ordered the juice's maker, TWS Marketing, to remove the logo from HomeMaker Premium cartons. Any cartons with the logo that are still on store shelves must be removed by Oct. 1 or the department will seize them."That label is a circus," said Kenneth Keck, executive director of the Florida Department of Citrus. "Between fraud and deception, it's all there, we believe."
We're not sure we'd go to the extent of "fraud" or "deception," since it is still stated on the front of the carton, although it's true that most people wouldn't pay attention to it. The article also mentions that Minute Maid gets its juice from Costa Rica and Brazil and that Tropicana blends Brazilian orange juice with Florida oranges. These are listed in really fine print in the back, just below the nutritional information. (HomeMaker uses only Florida oranges.)
HomeMaker has been given until October to redesign its cartons.
Business: Orange juice labels: pulp fiction? [St. Petersburg Times]
Photo: Flickr
