Our Juice
ere at Orchid Island Juice Company, we personally select, test for flavor, and type, the fruit to be used in our juice. We guarantee that only the finest fruit is picked fresh from the trees and squeezed to capture the flavor of the juice at its peak. As the juice is extracted, we immediately drop the temperature of the juice. Our state of the art chilling and sanitation equipment solidifies the process of keeping our 100% Fresh Squeezed Juice at its most desirable level of freshness and provides you with the longest shelf life possible.
ere at Orchid Island Juice Company we guarantee product freshness. We are committed to delivering our customers the freshest and finest juice products available. Our commitment to you requires that we squeeze juice only when you place an order. Once you place an order, the fruit is picked, fresh squeezed and delivered directly to you. This process is a little more expensive, but we believe that our customers are worth the investment!
Juice Separation
natural characteristic of Fresh Squeezed juice is separation of the pulp in the juice. It does not mean the juice is bad. Shaking the juice will immediately disperse the pulp throughout and is encouraged before serving.
ddly enough, a good indication that your juice is Fresh Squeezed is to observe some separation. Technically speaking, Fresh Squeezed juice separates because of the interaction between enzymes in the fruit and the pectin in the juice. When the juice is pasteurized or concentrated, the heat neutralizes enzymes, thus preventing separation. By allowing the enzymes to stay in their natural state, Fresh Squeezed juice tastes great and gives it the “FRESH” taste customers love.
Shelf Life
resh squeezed Florida orange juice & grapefruit juice producers are marketing product with coded pull dates of up to 17 days from the date of extraction. Psychological Factors may, in part, account for consumer acceptance of some flavor deterioration in freshly squeezed Florida orange juice and grapefruit juice simply because the consumers are aware the produce is “fresh” and, therefore subject to nature’s vulnerability. Dr. Paul Fellers, Florida Department of Citrus research scientist, has extracted juice from Hamlin, Pineapple and Valencia oranges and the packaged the juices in plastic bottles experimentally at the Citrus Research Experimental Center using great care for fruit quality, sanitation and refrigeration as discussed earlier. These packs have shown the following approximate shelf lives for the respective storage temperature: 16 to 22 days at 34°F; 12 to 16 days at 40°F. (*) Dr. Fellers’ study shows that the total micro flora count can decrease after 2 weeks storage at 34°F and probably will increase significantly with 1 week at 46°F. This study illustrates the importance of refrigeration temperature and storage time to freshly squeezed Florida orange juice and grapefruit juice and that even at 34°F storage, some consumers may find objectionable off-flavors in the juice after 2 weeks of storage, but most probably would not.
Storage and Distribution
wo important aspects of the fresh squeezed Florida orange juice and grapefruit juice operation are storage and distribution. Lack of respect for either of these two factors can destroy the good work in the other preceding areas. Refrigeration is an essential friend of the fresh squeezed Florida orange juice and grapefruit juice operator. Storage temperature should be maintained between 28°F to 36°F in the operator’s storage, and as long as possible in the distribution and marketing chain.
t is desirable for the operator to also control the distribution and market systems, allowing the operator to also maintain proper storage temperatures until the time of consumer purchase. Adverse storage temperatures are likely to occur in restaurants, grocery markets and home refrigerators. As a consequence, severe temperature abuse can begin as soon as the product passes from the operator’s control causing significant reduction in the possible shelf life.*(Fellers, P.J. 1988, “The shelf life and quality of freshly squeezed, unpasteurized polyethylene-bottled citrus juice.” Journal of Food Science. 1988 53(6): 1699-1702.)
Click to view information about HACCP
Our Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) safety system is a science-based system that identifies and integrates preventative controls in food production steps to prevent the possibility of the production of unwholesome product. HACCP is the Food and Drug Administration’s mandated food safety system.
