Florida Delegation Unites Around Franklin, Wasserman Schultz to Help Citrus Growers

Representatives Scott Franklin (R-FL) and Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) have reintroduced their bipartisan legislation, the Defending Domestic Orange Juice Production Act, which aims to update regulations and support Florida citrus growers by creating friendlier standards.  The entire Florida delegation has co-sponsored the bill.

According to the lawmakers, the rationale for changing the not-from-concentrate pasteurized orange juice brix (required level of sugar/solids content) standard wouldn't affect nutrition nor taste, but give growers more flexibility and greater value for their product. The not-from-concentrate brix standard would change from 10.5% to 10% with this bill.

Specifically, this bill would direct the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to alter the brix standard (required level of sugar/solids content) in not-from-concentrate pasteurized orange juice from 10.5 percent to 10 percent. Moreover, Reps. Franklin's and Wasserman Schultz's further rationale for changing the standard includes the effects of major hurricanes, greening, and other "adverse factors" that have impacted citrus growers, especially in the State of Florida.

The bill, Reps. Franklin and Wasserman Schultz and the Florida delegation argue, also reduce the dependency on foreign fruit.

Rep. Franklin called the current standards "outdated" and said this bill "throws [growers] a lifeline" for their businesses.

“Outdated standards and needless red tape are standing in the way of Florida citrus’s big comeback,” said Rep. Franklin. “While slow-moving FDA bureaucrats take years to deliberate a small regulatory adjustment, our growers are losing out on profit to foreign producers and struggling to keep their operations afloat. This simple fix throws them a lifeline, allowing more domestic product to come to market without sacrificing quality for consumers."

Franklin continued, thanking both sides of the aisle in Florida for supporting this bill.

"Helping Florida’s flagship crop is a bipartisan issue, and I’m grateful to my Florida colleagues for joining me to update this harmful regulation," concluded Franklin.

Moreover, Rep. Wasserman Schultz declared that this bill is good for farmers and processors without sacrificing quality.

“Unless we defeat pests, diseases, and extreme weather, the natural decline in brix levels in mature Florida oranges will continue, but this bill would provide our farmers and processors with flexibility to keep producing the world’s best oranges, with no sacrifices in the high quality and taste our farmers always deliver,” said Rep. Wasserman Schultz.

Wasserman Schultz concluded, “Florida’s growers and processors should not be further waylaid by this outdated, arbitrary brix measure. Tasty, nutritious orange juice is what the world wants, and Florida orange growers should be able to continue to deliver it to our breakfast tables. This bill does that.”