What You Need to Know to Choose Your Main Squeeze

There’s a mind-boggling array of orange juices to be found in the grocery store. Here’s a description of the varieties you can buy.

* Fresh squeezed juice: This term means the juice was squeezed from fresh oranges and packaged in paper cartons, glass or plastic containers. It is not pasteurized, is clearly labeled and is located in the produce or dairy section of your grocery store.

* Chilled, ready-to-serve or ready-to-pour: This is juice made from frozen concentrate or pasteurized (not from concentrate) juice. The ready-to-serve juice that is labeled “from concentrate” has been made from juice that was manufactured as frozen concentrate, then reconstituted and pasteurized before packaging. The “not from concentrate” juice is flash-heated to pasteurize it immediately after the fruit is squeezed. It has never been concentrated.

Ready-to-serve juices are packaged in paper cartons, plastic or glass containers and usually are found in the dairy section.

* Frozen concentrate: This freshly squeezed juice has been concentrated and frozen. It is reconstituted at home by adding back the amount of water originally removed.

* Fresh frozen: Freshly squeezed juice that is packaged without pasteurizing or further processing is called “fresh frozen.” It is usually sold in plastic bottles in the frozen food section of the grocery store and is ready to drink after thawing.

* Juice in aseptic containers: This is a shelf-stable product usually found with canned and bottled juices on the dry-goods shelves of your store. It is pasteurized juice or juice from concentrate, packaged in sterilized containers.

* Canned juice: Orange juice that has been pasteurized and sealed in cans provides extended shelf life of more than one year. Remember, canned juices should be refrigerated after opening and used within one week.