Congresswoman Kat Cammack (FL-03) today welcomed the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s final rule modernizing the federal Standard of Identity for pasteurized orange juice during an announcement with U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., Acting FDA Commissioner Kyle Diamantas, Senator Ashley Moody, and Congresswoman Laurel Lee (FL-15).
The updated standard lowers the minimum Brix level from 10.5 to 10 degrees, allowing processors to produce 100 percent orange juice using more of the fruit Florida actually grows, in response to a 2022 petition from Florida Citrus Mutual and the Florida Citrus Processors Association. Citrus greening and repeated hurricanes have lowered the natural sugar content of Florida oranges, and the previous standard forced processors to blend in imported juice to meet a threshold today’s Florida crop could not reliably reach. FDA estimates the rule will save manufacturers more than $50 million annually.
