Question about lemons...

[nao57]

So this is actually a food question. But I wanted to ask it here because gardeners have very good understanding of how things work. When you learn about plants work, you start to see how food works. And you see things more clearly than people who don't get this. I think this is a very valuable perspective. People that don't learn how to build food systems don't get this and I think it gives them holes to their understanding.

So... my question is about lemon concentrate. You see lemon concentrate for sale in stores. And it will be labeled and say 100% concentrate.

My question is... is it really 100% concentrate? Or is there other stuff in there?

Here's part of why I am asking this... ;

I found out when you go buy tomato sauce, there's certain big cans of it that put on the labels, that its free of onions, garlic, and other vegetable matter. Now why would they say that? They are saying that because they are cheating on the ingredients with subtle amounts of other vegetable matter in with the tomato sauce. But that was supposed to be only tomato sauce. You shouldn't have to look for something on the label to say it doesn't have other stuff in because you bought it as 'tomato sauce' not as vegetable sauce.

This cheating is going on in other areas too. And they can't resist this because to the people making the stuff they are thinking... well if I have this other stuff in then it means I can save... X% off the top. That's why they can't resist.

Then there's other examples also. It used to be when you bought orange juice it would say its got a % of real juice. I don't know if anything is real orange juice anymore even when they say it is. And other juices used to have higher percentages in them.

Like cranberry juice a few years ago used to have some of the highest percentages of real juice in them when compared to other fruit juices. But now its lowered also. Most of the juice you buy in the store is sugar water I think, and then they'll add maybe a dash of real juice in it and then compensate with some kind of sweeteners and things to hide it.

So ... a lot of the stuff in our food is not accurate on the labels. I'd hoped to get some more feedback and information on this from you, and also share some of this with you. You can comment about this in other areas and not only about my question about lemon concentrate. Although I am hoping for information on lemon concentrate specifically but other areas are fine to hear about too if you know something.

 

[pepper2.0]

My understanding of concentrate is they do pasteurization (heating it) and water is removed but they add some back in. So 100% concentrate is basically boiled lemon juice. Usually though like most things, they add preservatives to give it a much longer shelf life. How they can do that and call it 100%, I've no idea lol.

I imagine it also loses some good in it, just like pasteurized milk, honey, etc. they do it to kill any bacteria.

 

[MiTmite9]

So this is actually a food question. But I wanted to ask it here because gardeners have very good understanding of how things work. When you learn about plants work, you start to see how food works. And you see things more clearly than people who don't get this. I think this is a very valuable perspective. People that don't learn how to build food systems don't get this and I think it gives them holes to their understanding.

So... my question is about lemon concentrate. You see lemon concentrate for sale in stores. And it will be labeled and say 100% concentrate.

My question is... is it really 100% concentrate? Or is there other stuff in there?

Here's part of why I am asking this... ;

I found out when you go buy tomato sauce, there's certain big cans of it that put on the labels, that its free of onions, garlic, and other vegetable matter. Now why would they say that? They are saying that because they are cheating on the ingredients with subtle amounts of other vegetable matter in with the tomato sauce. But that was supposed to be only tomato sauce. You shouldn't have to look for something on the label to say it doesn't have other stuff in because you bought it as 'tomato sauce' not as vegetable sauce.

This cheating is going on in other areas too. And they can't resist this because to the people making the stuff they are thinking... well if I have this other stuff in then it means I can save... X% off the top. That's why they can't resist.

Then there's other examples also. It used to be when you bought orange juice it would say its got a % of real juice. I don't know if anything is real orange juice anymore even when they say it is. And other juices used to have higher percentages in them.

Like cranberry juice a few years ago used to have some of the highest percentages of real juice in them when compared to other fruit juices. But now its lowered also. Most of the juice you buy in the store is sugar water I think, and then they'll add maybe a dash of real juice in it and then compensate with some kind of sweeteners and things to hide it.

So ... a lot of the stuff in our food is not accurate on the labels. I'd hoped to get some more feedback and information on this from you, and also share some of this with you. You can comment about this in other areas and not only about my question about lemon concentrate. Although I am hoping for information on lemon concentrate specifically but other areas are fine to hear about too if you know something.

Here's what my online research states: "Some commercial concentrates also include added lemon oil, and preservatives like sodium benzoate or sodium metabisulfite."
You should try to buy " . . . brands like Nature Blessed and from suppliers like Nature's Flavors and BIOSERVICE Zach that are free of additives and use vacuum-thickening processes to preserve flavor."

I personally avoid foods with any types of sulfites. Sulfites make me wheeze and can make my headache, too. There's nothing that beats fresh lemon juice, when you have lemons available (organic) --- the way we do here in CA. Sometimes I have to substitute organic white vinegar, though, when making my salad dressings. Sometimes even in CA, one doesn't always have the fruit on hand.

 

[nao57]

Here's what my online research states: "Some commercial concentrates also include added lemon oil, and preservatives like sodium benzoate or sodium metabisulfite."
You should try to buy " . . . brands like Nature Blessed and from suppliers like Nature's Flavors and BIOSERVICE Zach that are free of additives and use vacuum-thickening processes to preserve flavor."

I personally avoid foods with any types of sulfites. Sulfites make me wheeze and can make my headache, too. There's nothing that beats fresh lemon juice, when you have lemons available (organic) --- the way we do here in CA. Sometimes I have to substitute organic white vinegar, though, when making my salad dressings. Sometimes even in CA, one doesn't always have the fruit on hand.

Wow. Interesting. Thank you for commenting. You have several good points.

 

[nao57]

My understanding of concentrate is they do pasteurization (heating it) and water is removed but they add some back in. So 100% concentrate is basically boiled lemon juice. Usually though like most things, they add preservatives to give it a much longer shelf life. How they can do that and call it 100%, I've no idea lol.

I imagine it also loses some good in it, just like pasteurized milk, honey, etc. they do it to kill any bacteria.

I didn't know they pasteurized lemon products. Thanks.