Whatever Happened To Frozen Orange Juice?

When you close your eyes and imagine the perfect breakfast, what are you drinking? A lot of you will probably say coffee or tea, but for those of you, Mormon or otherwise, who would rather not have hot drinks, you might just be imagining a tall, cold glass of orange juice. (This writer has always been more of an apple juice lover, but different strokes for different folks and all that.) Few things are as satisfying as that crisp, sunshiney burst of citrus on your tongue — provided you didn't just brush your teeth — and it's small wonder fresh orange juice is valued so highly. But for much of the 20th century, you might have enjoyed orange juice made from frozen concentrate. It's still around today, but not like it once was.

As with many other mid-century innovations, frozen orange juice came about, at least in part, because of World War II. By freezing concentrated orange juice, it kept from spoiling and could be easily transported from one part of the world to another, making it ideal fuel for the war effort. When the war was over, it was passed along to American consumers, who were happy to have another modern innovation to make life cheaper and easier. (See also: TV dinners.)

So what happened to orange juice concentrate? Well, consumer habits changed. Once we stopped marveling at the miracles of food science that made frozen foods and processed products possible, we started to crave the opposite: something fresh, something a little more healthy, something we could drink straight up without stirring in water first. Orange juice made from frozen concentrate was many things, some of them good, but it didn't taste like fresh orange juice. As soon as we could get the fresh stuff (well, "fresh" stuff) as cheap and easy as the concentrate, that was all we wanted to drink.

You can still find orange juice concentrate in stores if you look closely. They're not exactly hot sellers these days, but they're there as surely as Spam and TV dinners are still there. They do, after all, still have some things going for them: they're cheaper than fresh orange juice, create less waste, and can be used to make a great homemade Orange Julius. And don't worry — it's totally safe to drink from concentrate.