NO HPP! NO Pesticides! NO GMOs!

Two different processes are of concern to those who market health foods in general and products that contain produce in particular. One is pasteurization and the other is use of produce that is genetically modified.

Pasteurization

In order for a juice company to sell their juices and smoothies to another company wholesale, they have to pasteurize their products. This is required by federal law.

There are two primary methods of pasteurizing juices and smoothies. One is a heat pasteurization process, similar to how they pasteurized milk. The other, High Pressure Pasteurization (HPP), is done by subjecting products to a high level of isostatic pressure transmitted by water. Both methods extend the shelf life of the products.

Pasteurization significantly depletes nutritional quality and gives products a very unpleasant taste. As consumers we are so used to products that have been pasteurized that we’ve forgotten how delicious and satisfying fresh juices and smoothies taste.

Single store companies (such as mine) are not required to pasteurize their products. Items that aren’t pasteurized taste wonderful, but they expire very quickly. If you do a taste test between juices or smoothies that come from a supermarket or a big juice chain with our juices, you’ll note that ours have a much brighter and fuller taste.

The pasteurization process also alters chemical composition—it tampers with the nutrient values of the vitamins and other compounds. Pasteurized juice is less nutrient dense, and its enzymes have been denatured. Also, in the process of potentially killing bad bacteria in produce, pasteurization also kills all probiotics (good bacteria) that are helpful to your gut.

Pasteurized products are clearly inferior to those that aren’t. I believe that pasteurization benefits no one but product manufacturers, who get longer product shelf life and less waste as a result of pasteurization.

The main reason that pasteurization is required is because there can sometimes be harmful bacteria present in some produce. So the government has made pasteurization mandatory in its attempts to protect the public. There is a possibility of pathogens still living in fresh produce. But that risk is extremely low in produce from the US and other developed countries.

Perhaps you’re afraid to eat fresh produce because there might be bacteria present in it. That mindset taken to its logical conclusion would require that you never eat a live raw salad, an apple, or uncooked leafy greens again. Washing produce more and more will not kill the pathogens that could be potentially harmful—only cooking will.

I don’t believe the FDA is particularly knowledgeable about the science of nutrition and that they are primarily concerned with enforcing regulations. If they had their way, every piece of produce anyone ate would have to be cooked, and we would never get the benefits of fresh raw produce. The FDA largely regulates health and wellness industries and ignores industries that poison people.

It bears repeating that companies that pressurize their juice to extend shelf life create inferior products. Juice and smoothies taste horrible to the palette of anyone who has tasted fresh juice. Wine gets better with age—juice does not.

Freshly made unpasteurized juice is the only way to go. One of these days all juice makers are going to realize what juice is supposed to be and stop giving people terrible products. Fresh juice is fresh juice. Pasteurized juice is horse pucky. Compare goodsugar juices with supermarket juices. Go get a refund from your supermarket and come to goodsugar for a real juice.

GMOs

Regarding genetically modified organisms (GMOs), I personally have a very centrist perspective on them. GMOs by definition are living organisms whose genetic material has been artificially manipulated in a laboratory through genetic engineering.

Genetic engineering in agriculture can increase crop yields, offer resistance to pests and disease, and result in greater food security to the world's growing population. But it can also damage soil, interfere with crop diversity, and threaten animal and insect life that is crucial to the ecosystem. 

I truly believe in the scientific advancements that have happened throughout the ages. But not all scientific advancements have resulted in the betterment of humanity. And scientific truth is subject to change. 

If I could trust corporations to do what was best for humanity and our planet then I would think the GMOs would represent a new wave of positive adaptations. But I am distrustful of certain people. Such people do things only for monetary gain and have no regard for what the effects of things they do might have on our planet and the creatures that live in it.

Because many such people exist, we cannot just give a green light to corporations to determine the fate of our own health and the health of the planet. We cannot trust most corporations to do the right thing when it comes to monitoring and limiting GMO development and product distribution in ways that are in our best interests.

Having said that, GMO use can be compassionate if it’s done correctly. Our species has a responsibility as the most intelligent creature to live according to the laws of nature. We should have not overpopulated, but we did so. GMOs can help us feed many starving people to the degree that we could not do otherwise. And they can help lessen the effects of other problems that we have brought upon ourselves.

We should not have put ourselves in the place of needing things such as GMOs to solve our problems, but we have done so. And so GMOs likely have their place. But the generations to come must beware. Many things that began in the name of science and progress benefitted many people. But they later became things that were done for the purpose for excessive financial gain by small groups of people at the expense of society as a whole.

We must learn from lessons of the past. We have to examine human nature and our tendency to lean towards corruption and greed. We have to look at potential solutions carefully. We must demand transparency from profit making corporations and governmental regulating bodies. We cannot let those who make billions from our food consumption make their profits at the expense of our health and safety.

Yet there may come a time during which everything must be genetically modified in order for the human species to survive. We are so destructive as a species that we push things into extinction rather quickly.

In my store, I’m fortunate to not have to use genetically modified produce. All of the produce that we use in our juices and other products is non-GMO. Such produce may be rare one day. I hope that you enjoy the products I offer, and I hope that you will educate yourself about GMO usage over time.