Alcohol.. yes and it worries me if that's true.. I have been told that the fresh fruits juices includes fractions of percentage of alcohol to preserve the fruit from frementing.. is this true? I have googled the web to find fresh juice ingredients but couldn't locate any info.

I don't know if this will satisfy you. I live in Florida and well, fancys myself is a bit of an amateur orange juice connoisseur since wine is now off the list. :o I have a pretty discriminating palette -- have tasted fresh squeezed straight off the trees and every other concievable kind of orange juice. I have never ever encountered this in tasting it nor have I seen it listed in any packaging which I usually read too.

Here is an odd bit of trivia, maybe Ben can appreciate. The best tasting single fruit variety I've tasted (sorry I can't recall the type of orange now) was the ugliest looking orange -- mishapen, mottled green and sickly orange, thin skinned-- but oh my my the juice was bright, clear, not too sweet or cloying (I hate that) and the orangiest orange tasting juice I have ever had! Most orange juice is a blend of different varieties. Flavor is very affected by weather.

Also here is a wild guess that maybe someone who homebrews could confirm or correct but I think the addition of alcohol would encourage further fermentation rather than prevent it, or so it seems in some remote "I don't know why I think that" corner of my mind? Like a catalyst maybe?

In some orange drinks, look for Sorbitol, a sugar alcohol which is used as a artificaial sweatner.

According to the USDA nutritional database orange juice does not contain any alcohol.

There are a lot of drinks on the market that aren't pure orange juice. I haven't seen one with alcohol added, but read the labels if you want to be sure.

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Originally Posted by thepretender31

alcohol..yes and it worries me if thats true..i have been told that the fresh fruits juices includes fractions of percentage of alcohol to preserve the fruit from frementing..is this true? i have googled the web to find fresh juice ingredients but couldnt locate any info.

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I was intriqued by this question to the point of e-mailing Tropicana, I just received a reply this morning, this is what they said;
Re: Tropican Pure Premium Orange Juice Reference # 026005101A
Tropicana only produces non alcoholic juices and beverages. We do not include even a fraction of a percentage of alcohol in our Orange Juices. ( So now we know that at least Tropicana is alcohol free.) The question really made me think, thanks;)

Fermentation is a problem in foodstuffs, as yeast can easily grow. However, adding alcohol would not be a very good deterrent, as that's the end product of fermentation. Yeast is most likely killed in irradiation and other preservation methods.

Ascorbic acid is what has been used as a preservative for years as well as benzoates as sorbates... but not alcohol.

I think that this rumor has been created because alcohol is used for cleaning and things, because it quickly kills microorganisms. However it is not used in food preparation, for obvious reasons, it is not harmless for human consumption!

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Originally Posted by Capuchin

I think that this rumor has been created because alcohol is used for cleaning and things, because it quickly kills microorganisms. However it is not used in food preparation, for obvious reasons, it is not harmless for human consumption!

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I don't know about "not used in food prep", not used in ingredients, maybe, like the juice question. But a lot of Italian cooking includes red, white wine or sherry, and it adds to the flavors. But I know that alcohol evaporates at 172 degress roughly, so not all of it evaporates in normal simmering or boiling. It would have to cook 3 hours ro really eradicate "almost" all traces. But I have marinated food in alcohol, for flavor and tenderness! And it's great.:p

I believe capuchin was referrign to the use of alcohol in the manufacturing process or as a preservative, not as part of the ingredients of a recipe.

Sorry, I meant preservation rather than preparation. Sometimes I type faster than I think :)

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Originally Posted by Capuchin

Sorry, I meant preservation rather than preparation. Sometimes I type faster than I think :)

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You have to excuse him on that one lovelesspa he is male after all ;) (joke cap loves ya)

I have to say thought I've enjoyed reading this thred certainly made me think

YES ALCAHOL can preserve stuff, only some types I believe... I know for definite that in hot countries they put vodka in the milk to make sure it has not gone off by the end of the day.

ALCAHOL is not used in fruit juices, well at least none I know of.. if I was you try checking the ingredients... they have to put it on the ingredients at the end of the day

There is between .2 to .5 % natural alcohol in orange juice, naturally. It is not added by anyone but mother nature. It is similar to kombucha tea and non-alcoholic beers.
IMO If you are going to answer questions you should know the correct answer or take the time to look up the science. Indiana University has a "fact sheet" available re: these issues.

Actually there is a small amount of natural occurring alcohol in all natural fruit juices and teas such as orange juice. It's usually less than 0.5% at the most though. The alcohol is produced by fermentation which occurs when yeasts or bacteria convert sugars into carbon dioxide and alcohol. So to answer your question - yes there is alcohol in orange juice although not much and no this is not because it was added as a preservative or anything like that.

Orange juice has no added alcohol, however it contains sugar and sugar ferments into alcohol (even in your fridge) given time.

Every fruit juice, once opened slowly begins to ferment and will contain a tiny amount of alcohol after several days. Most of the time you finish off the juice long before the alcohol content becomes even a slight concern for your health.

If you drink your juice it tastes off or fizzy, throw it out.

To answer your question, alcohol is not added to commercial orange juices (example of these are Florida's Natural, Minute Maid, etc). The key word here being ADDED. There is a natural process call fermentation in which natural yeasts, (which can be found on almost any surface of anything), finds it's way into juices and eats the natural sugars. This feeding process produces Co2 and alcohol as a byproduct. In wine making or other alcoholic beverage where this is desirable, the waiting time before packaging is lengthened to allow the natural yeasts to produce LOTS of these byproducts. In regular juices, the product are processed and shipped more immediately for consumption so that less fermentation occurs, though some is unavoidable (unless you drink just picked, fresh squeezed OJ). It is estimated that approximately 0.07% alcohol by weight IS produced in most orange juices by the time they appear on grocery store shelves, however at this low level, you would metabolize the alcohol as fast as you consume the drink. So although all orange juice contains alcohol, the quantity is low enough that you won’t get intoxicated from it, even if you drink many glasses of it.