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  • FILE - In this May 2, 2012 photo, riders pass an orange grove during the final stage of the Tour of California cycling races, in Piru, Calif. Orange juice drinkers can relax. Fears of a spike in the price of the breakfast favorite appear overblown. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill, File) AP/Mark J. Terrill

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March 13, 2012

Worries about OJ shortage are pulp fiction

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Associated Press

Orange juice drinkers can relax. Fears of a spike in the price of the breakfast favorite appear overblown.

Juice tainted with fungicide used in Brazil and other countries and cold weather in Florida raised the specter of an OJ shortage in the U.S. in January. Orange juice futures hit an all-time high. That could have translated into sharply higher prices on store shelves, leading more consumers to shop for alternative beverages.

Just a few weeks later, those concerns have abated after the government said the juice is safe to drink and the weather has improved. There should be plenty of oranges, and juice, to go around.

The cost of orange juice has risen in four out of the last five years, largely because of dwindling supplies of oranges and the rising cost of processing and transporting products to stores.

Shoppers paid an average of $2.76 for a 12-ounce can of frozen orange juice concentrate in December, compared with $2.53 in December 2007.

The average retail price from October to Feb. 18 was 7.4 percent more than a comparable period a year earlier. Total orange juice sales dropped 10.4 percent in the same timeframe, according to data from The Nielsen Co.

In January, orange juice tainted with fungicide was discovered on store shelves. This raised fears of a ban on imports from Brazil and other countries, and a recall from stores. Also, a cold snap threatened the orange crop in Florida, which produces about 80 percent of the domestic supply.

The U.S. Agriculture Department said Friday that it expects Florida's orange production to be about 5 percent more than it was than it was at the end of the previous growing season. That report and the Food and Drug Administration's recent decision not to recall juice products that contained low, but safe levels of the fungicide should allay concerns about a shortage of juice.

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