National Orange Juice Day
Every morning, roughly 530,000 metric tons of orange juice are consumed in the United States alone each year- more than any other fruit juice in the country! However, May 4th is the one day we stop, pour a tall, cold glass, and give that little bottle of sunshine the respect it genuinely deserves.
From Luxury Item to Breakfast Institution
Believe it or not, orange juice was once a luxury that most Americans had never tasted. Before the 1920s, unless you lived in Florida or California near the citrus groves, fresh oranges were genuinely hard to come by. The idea of a daily glass of OJ was simply out of reach for the average household.
The first commercial processing of orange juice began in 1931 in Florida, but the product was still far from convenient. Canned OJ was notoriously bad- it lost its flavor almost immediately and, by some accounts, bore a closer resemblance to turpentine than to fresh fruit. America had a problem, and ironically, it took a world war to solve it.
During World War II, American soldiers were at risk of scurvy- a painful, potentially fatal vitamin C deficiency. The military's solution was lemon-flavored crystal powder added to rations, but soldiers flatly rejected it for tasting terrible. So in 1942, the U.S. Army quartermaster offered a lucrative contract to anyone who could develop a palatable, vitamin C-rich, transportable beverage.
Florida scientists at the USDA, working with the Florida Citrus Commission, spent years cracking the problem. Their breakthrough came in 1945: a method to evaporate the liquid from fresh juice at low temperatures, concentrating it into a stable, flavorful mass. A splash of fresh juice added back restored the citrusy aroma. Frozen Concentrated Orange Juice (FCOJ) was born.
Celebrate National Orange Juice Day
- Skip the carton today. Grab a few oranges, pull out a juicer, and taste the difference. Nothing beats the real thing on its own holiday.
- Equal parts freshly squeezed OJ and chilled dry sparkling wine. Pour the juice first, top with bubbly. A classic that never fails.
- OJ is a brilliant marinade base for meats, a glaze for roasted vegetables, a flavor kick in pancake batter, and a secret ingredient in BBQ sauce.
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