Q&A with Alissa Hamilton

Hamilton traces the history of the drink, first processed in the United States in the early 1900s as a canned juice that was said to taste like "battery acid." World War II ushered in the age of palatable processed orange juice, with the military seeking a source of vitamin C that soldiers would readily consume. In 1948, frozen concentrate was born, too late for the war effort but in time to help revive an ailing citrus industry, which was struggling with a surplus of fruit.

A further boost from Bing Crosby, who crooned about Minute Maid in radio ads, and OJ was on its way to becoming America's favorite breakfast drink. Since then, the citrus industry and its technologies have changed. The FDA tussled with manufacturers to set standards for orange juice. What remains constant? Marketing - some of it deceptive, says Hamilton.

If orange juice isn't harmful, it also isn't what it's portrayed to be. Consumers have a right to know what they are consuming, Hamilton says, and that is at the heart of her story. Ideas spoke with the author, a Woodcock Foundation-funded food and society policy fellow, by phone at her home in Toronto.

IDEAS: You write that the first question everyone asks when they hear about the book is whether orange juice is good for us. So - is orange juice good for us?

HAMILTON: I tell people if you like it, drink it, but not because you think it's good for you. You'd be better off with a whole orange than a glass of orange juice. It has more fiber and more vitamin C. But I'm not a dietitian. The book is not about whether you should drink orange juice and whether it's healthy. It's about how little consumers know about how popular and - in the case of orange juice - seemingly straightforward foods are produced and the repercussions for agriculture.

IDEAS: What isn't straightforward about orange juice?