Should School Food Services Continue Considering Orange Juice as Fresh Fruit Servings for Students?

New School Nutrition Poll: Should School Food Services Continue Considering Orange Juice as Fresh Fruit as part of the School Lunch and the School Breakfast programs?

Los Angeles (I-Newswire) January 20, 2013 - The LinkedIn School Nutrition group announces a new poll ; Should School Food Services Continue Considering Orange Juice as Fresh Fruit as part of the School Lunch and the School Breakfast programs?

The School Nutrition LinkedIn Group Poll http://www.linkedin.com/groups/Should-School-Food-Services-Continue-2027611.S.206114651?qid=669847c0-db96-4fa6-95a2-88e0eb94991c&trk=group_most_recent_rich-mc-rr-ttl&goback=%2Egmr_2027611 provides the following polling selections:

* Yes - only at breakfast

* Yes - only at lunch

* Yes - for all meals

* No - for all meal

* Allow also other Fruit Juices at Schools

School Nutrtion LinkedIn group is an open group, allowing anyone to cast their vote in the poll and participate in the group's discussions without the need to join the group. Once casting a vote, one can continously follow the voting process.

Casting a vote will let the School Nutrition Association and other influential organizations with a "voice from the public" about this debated issue.

Kristie Bishopp, eHow Contributor as publised in eHow.com - "No one argues the nutritional value of the raw orange. Like other citrus fruits, it contains necessary nutrients such as vitamins A and C, potassium, calcium, phosphorus and small amounts of amino acids. Many, however, debate the merits of fresh-squeezed orange juice versus store-bought orange juice. While fresh-squeezed orange juice contains fewer additives and a fresher taste, store-bought varieties offer savings in time and effort".

And Bishopp continues:
"As soon as juice is squeezed from fruit, that juice begins to lose its nutrients due to oxygenation. If oranges are squeezed at home and the juice imbibed immediately, the drinker benefits from most of the orange's naturally occurring nutrients. The more time that elapses between squeezing and consumption, the more the juice degrades and nutrient content lowers. Vitamin C is particularly vulnerable to changes in temperature and environment. For store-bought orange juice, fruit is squeezed at a distant manufacturing facility -- nowhere near home or the eventual consumer -- and then pasteurized to kill germs. Unfortunately, pasteurization entails heating and dehydration that destroy not just germs but also any nutrients not already eliminated by oxygen exposure.

Unlike orange juice squeezed fresh at home and free of chemical enhancement, store-bought juice often contains preservatives and additives to enhance color and flavor and increase the juice's shelf life. Many, too, are fortified with synthetic vitamins and minerals to replace the natural ones lost in processing."

About the School Nutrition Open LinkedIn group:

The School Nutrition Open LinkedIn group is the largest School Nutrition group with about 4000 members. The group is for professionals that work for or with school food and nutrition services and everyone interested in school nutrition, discussing the everything related to school food and nutrition.