# Juices, supermarkets and refrigeration

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/juices-supermarkets-and-refrigeration/143481>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [December 18, 2002, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/juices-supermarkets-and-refrigeration/143481 "2002-12-18T04:17:39Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Milossarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Milossarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Milossarian)\
**Post date:** [December 18, 2002, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/juices-supermarkets-and-refrigeration/143481/1 "2002-12-18T04:17:39Z")

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Why are orange and grapefruit juice refrigerated in supermarkets, but other juices (grape, the cranberry mixes, etc.) not?

(Yes, I know you can find one or two occasionally along side orange juice in some store’s refrigerated section. But, generally, orange juice is refrigerated, other kinds are not.)

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**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\
**Post date:** [December 18, 2002, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/juices-supermarkets-and-refrigeration/143481/2 "2002-12-18T05:10:28Z")

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Orange juice is generally pure orange juice, taken from the orange (or grapefruit) and put in a bottle, no preservatives, addatives, vacuum sealing, pastuerizing etc… So it must be refridgerated to stay good. OTOH apple juice is usually pastureized and vacuum sealed, and most other juices are mainly water and some concentrate along with lots of sugar and preservatives and then are vacuum sealed so they are shelf stable. (At least that’s what I’m guessing, if I’m wrong, I have NO DOUBT someone will chime in to correct me very shortly.)

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**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\
**Post date:** [December 18, 2002, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/juices-supermarkets-and-refrigeration/143481/3 "2002-12-18T13:07:05Z")

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You used to be able to get nonrefrigerated orange and grapefruit juice in cans. It tasted vile. It probably got people accustomed to avoiding shelf-stable citrus juice, so there’s no market for it.

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**Author:** ![Shalmanese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shalmanese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shalmanese)\
**Post date:** [December 18, 2002, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/juices-supermarkets-and-refrigeration/143481/4 "2002-12-18T15:02:12Z")

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We have non-refrigerated apple, orange and misc juices but they taste like ass. We also have fresh, orange, apple and misc juices and they taste much better.