Modernizing standards of identity for juice: Evidence from consumer acceptance of orange juice blend

• Published date: 01 July 2023
• Author: Luqing Yu,Sungeun Yoon,Qianyan Wu,Zhifeng Gao,Stephanie Hricik,Renee Goodrich‐Schneider,Charles Sims,Yu Wang
• Date: 01 July 2023
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/joca.12549

RESEARCH ARTICLE

Modernizing standards of identity for juice:

Evidence from consumer acceptance of orange

juice blend

Luqing Yu

1

| Sungeun Yoon

2

| Qianyan Wu

2

|

Zhifeng Gao

2

| Stephanie Hricik

3

|

Renee Goodrich-Schneider

3

| Charles Sims

3

| Yu Wang

4

1

Applied Statistics Department, Shanghai

University of Engineering Science,

Shanghai, China

2

Food and Resource Economics

Department, University of Florida,

Gainesville, Florida, USA

3

Food Science and Human Nutrition

Department, University of Florida,

Gainesville, Florida, USA

4

IFAS Citrus Research and Education

Center, University of Florida, Gainesville,

Florida, USA

Correspondence

Zhifeng Gao, Food and Resource

Economics Department, University of

Florida

Email: zfgao@ufl.edu

Abstract

The Standards of Identity (SOI) for food may prevent

the adoption of the strategies that help sustain the

development of some food industries. This study pro-

vides comprehensive insights into the possibility of

regulation changes with SOI for orange juice from

consumer perspectives. Results show that the juice

blends with 50% orange juice and 50% tangerine juice

received the highest sensory scores. However, most

consumers do not think juice blends with less than

70% orange juice can be called orange juice. The WTP

for juice blends with less than 70% orange juice also

decreases significantly. The results provide strong sup-

port for modifying the current SOI for orange juice. In

addition, the ratio of 70% orange juice and 30% non-

orange juice (tangerine/mandarin) is an appropriate

threshold for starting the change to the SOI for orange

juice. Successful modification to food SOI should con-

sider its impact on both food quality and consumer

perceptions.

KEYWORDS

food policy, HLB, SOI

Received: 5 September 2022 Revised: 10 March 2023 Accepted: 3 May 2023

DOI: 10.1111/joca.12549

© 2023 American Council on Consumer Interests.

J Consum Aff. 2023;57:1377–1394. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/joca 1377

1|INTRODUCTION

Many regulations, such as those on Standards of Identity (SOI) for food, are solely based on

tangible, scientific measurements such as nutrition values, ingredients, and amount of specific

food (e.g., real fruit in jams) (Food & Administration, 2022). The SOI for orange juice is a typi-

cal case that requires particular citrus cultivars (Sweet Orange; Citrus sinensis) to be used to pro-

duce the juice. The primary goal of SOI is to “help protect consumers and promote honesty and

fair dealing”(Food & Administration, 2022). However, the stringent restriction on the specific

cultivars used to produce orange juice lowers the possibility of using high-quality orange

hybrids with great resistance to the devastating disease, Huanglongbing (HLB) or citrus green-

ing, which harms the interests of growers, manufacturers, and consumers. HLB is a destructive

vector-borne disease affecting all varieties of citrus, significantly impacting the citrus industry,

particularly the Florida citrus industry, by lowering yield and quality (Alvarez et al., 2016). HLB

substantially decreases the yield and quality of the primary cultivars used for orange juice pro -

duction. In academics and the juice industry, there is strong input about reevaluating the SOI

for orange juice and collecting scientific evidence to support the development of new SOI for

orange juice.

It is crucial to take into account both the needs of growers and consumers when

reevaluating the current SOI. The SOI statement of “ensure that the characteristics, ingredients

and production processes of specific foods are consistent with what consumers expect”(Food &

Administration, 2022) shows the importance of changes to the SOI to be based on consumer

acceptance of a product of interest. This research aims to determine consumer perception of

SOI for orange juice and their acceptance of the juice products under several potential changes

to the SOI for orange juice. Such information is critical for the U.S. orange juice industry to

fight against HLB, one of the biggest threats to the juice and citrus industry in the

United States. This research also provides good insight into the approaches that can be used to

study the potential motivation of SOI for other food products.

The United States is the largest orange juice consumption country and the world's second-

largest orange juice production country (USDA/FAS, 2021). The orange juice market has

shrunk significantly on both the consumption and production sides from 2007 to 2021. How-

ever, the drop in orange juice production in the United States is much more significant than the

shrinkage of the orange juice market. While the recent per capita orange juice consumption has

become less than half of what it used to be two decades ago (Zansler et al., 2021), the

U.S. orange juice consumption ratio in the global market has been stable, constantly accounting

for more than 30% of the global market. In contrast, the share of U.S. production worldwide

decreased from 35% to 14% (Figure 1). As the largest orange juice producer in the United States,

Florida produced 89.8% of US domestic orange juice production in 2020 (USDA/FAS, 2021). A

stable juice production in Florida ensures U.S. consumers have adequate access to domestic

orange juices. Orange juice production is also critical to the state of Florida because the related

citrus industries contribute about $6.53 billion ($4.33 billion from citrus juice manufacturing;

the rest from related activities such as byproduct manufacturing) in total economic output and

support 33,300 jobs (Cruz et al., 2023).

Orange juice production in Florida has decreased steadily since 2005 due to HLB. Orange

trees affected by HLB become unproductive within a few years of the inception of the disease

(Zhang, 2019). Since the symptoms of HLB in Florida were identified in 2005, the disease has

infected 90% of the orange trees in the state, causing a significant production decrease (Alvarez

et al., 2016). The citrus production in 2019–2020 is only 30% of the average during 2000–2004

1378 YU ET AL.