The Surprising Reason That Frozen Orange Juice Concentrate Was Invented

Orange juice concentrate is an ingredient with applications in baking and cooking, while regular orange juice is usually a drink on its own. This is because fruit juice concentrate has had its water content filtered out during a freezing and compressing process, thus creating a more "concentrated" product of pure juice that preserves longer than organic non-concentrated orange juice. Concentrated juice is viscous and comes in a can, but there's a good reason for its existence.

During World War II, soldiers faced a unique problem regarding nutrition: receiving food with a high Vitamin C content. There were obvious technical issues with transporting fresh fruit, so soldiers had to rely on unpleasant-tasting lemon crystal snacks to get their Vitamin C intake. Before 1945, canned orange juice wouldn't hold its taste and would devolve into a syrupy mess resembling turpentine (via TIME). The United States government wanted its soldiers to be at peak performance, so it granted money to a group of scientists in Florida to develop a solution for their nutrition situation. The result: orange juice from concentrate.

World War II ended in 1945 as the United States Department of Agriculture and the Florida Citrus Commission finally created their concentrated orange juice. It may not have been able to reach the troops overseas like they anticipated, but it did make an impact on Americans at home.

In the 1950s and '60s, orange juice concentrate became a regular part of breakfast. Some of the best orange juice brands were popping up in supermarkets, and concentrated was the way to drink it. In 1965, reporter John McFee visited Florida to get a sip of fresh-squeezed orange juice — after all, the state was full of orange tree orchards. He was surprised to find that even Floridians were opting to stay hydrated with concentrated orange juice due to its predictability, as reported by the British Broadcasting Corporation.

In an ever-changing world, Americans had to be resourceful with their food and money. Today, you can take some wisdom from your elders by choosing canned orange juice concentrate, which lasts longer than fresh-squeezed orange juice after opening. All you have to do is add a little bit of water to break up the pulpiness. Regardless of how you get your citrusy Vitamin C, it's probably better than whatever lemon crystals those WWII soldiers were eating. Thank goodness for technology.