Something about passing an important bill to rectify some bureaucratic regulatory overreach and save Florida citrus growers from strangling in red tape.
Growers are asking the FDA to change the Brix standard for pasteurized, not-from-concentrate orange juice to 10%, down from the draconian, tyrannous, not internationally competitive 10.5% it’s been since 1963.
Brix standard just means the soluble solids in a liquid that make it sweet. In other words, it’s a rule about how sweet pasteurized, not-from-concentrate orange juice has to be. A little background on orange juice: we generally get eating oranges from California and juicing oranges from Florida. In 1963, the Brix level of Florida oranges was about 12.6, so the standard was set at 10.5.
Why? I haven’t found a reason cited, but my guess is protectionism, just like now. Florida growers want the standard changed to 10% because Florida orange trees no longer produce fruit that meets the 10.5% standard. This comes as a result of fruit, tree, and grove loss due to hurricanes, freezes, citrus greening disease, and the spread of development.
The most acute pressure is from citrus greening, which causes fruit to fall prematurely and trees to die younger than before. A resistant tree has not yet been developed. So, Florida growers want to be able to sell orange juice that’s not as sweet as it was in 1963, or even in 2021, the last time Florida fruit could meet the minimum standards. Growers are afraid that non-US growers will take over the orange juice market.
I just wanted to look this up because freshman Florida senator Ashley Moody sent me this breathless email about this absolutely critical bill she had cosponsored that will save Florida growers from the oppressive standards that the FDA graciously carved out for them in 1963, out of their own existing capacity, to protect them from competition from non-US growers.
“As Florida’s newest U.S. Senator, I am proud to work on policies that support our growers while cutting red tape and helping our state’s citrus industry thrive.”
Changing the Brix standard by 0.5% to accommodate the sugar level currently possible in Florida citrus isn’t cutting red tape at all. It’s just changing the lettering on the same protectionist tape.
The more you know.
Links:
Info about the bill and some background:
https://northamerica.visionmagazine.com/hope-on-the-horizon-for-struggling-florida-citrus/
A table with the Brix levels of various types of fruit juice. Note 10.5% is definitely not sweet
https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/19/151.91
Background on how the original standard was set in 1963
Jenna McKenna dot com 
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