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Editorial Changing the Label of White Cranberry Juice There's no worse stain than when it's on the reputation and credibility of a trusted company 9/4/01: Unless they can prove there is a cultivar of fully ripened white cranberries, Ocean Spray has to change the label of white cranberry juice before it's too late. They have been walking with blinders on straight into a consumer relations mine field. Worse, they will be treading into a gray area of business ethics, and opening the door to FTC intervention on truth in labeling violations. This issue has nothing to do with the fact that I believe it is a mistake to spend so much money on a high risk venture. If they don't change their label and they garner bad publicity because they are forced by the FTC to change it, it will hurt the rollout and the image of the entire company. I believe it is very important that all cranberry companies are above reproach when it comes to complying with the labeling laws, for the good of the entire industry. I trust that if there is a mistake in the labeling of white cranberry Ocean Spray will remedy this before the FTC forces them to do so. The sentence that is not true ( * see below) on the white cranberry label is: "These all natural, fully ripened, white cranberries come from the first harvest of the season so they're milder than traditional red cranberries." The berries being used are not fully ripened, and when picked they are not milder than when they fully ripened. In fact, few if any fruits are milder or sweeter when less than fully ripe. I believe that Ocean Spray must not misinform the consumer - as has been stated many times - while there is a variety of white grape, the Niagara, which is used to make white grape juice - as far as we know so far there is no identified and named cultivar of white cranberry, certainly none that is being used exclusively to make white cranberry juice. The possibility that "Susie Homemaker" ( ** see below) may not care to learn about horticultural details doesn't mean Ocean Spray can be less than scrupulous in its labeling. Until there is a cranberry that is white when fully ripened, Ocean Spray should not, must not, lead the public to think that there is through its advertising or labeling. It should not label its white juice as using fully ripened berries unless they are fully ripe. Ocean Spray is the industry leader. It must behave responsibly. It represents you to the consumer. Ocean Spray must be above reproach. It must not appear to be foisting off an early harvested, mature but not fully ripened cranberry as a new variety on unsuspecting and trusting consumers. Again, this will harm its own reputation as the premier cranberry company and damage the reputation of the entire cranberry industry. * There's no such thing as a fully ripened white cranberry cultivar In an article in the July 1999 issue of Cranberries Magazine entitled "Cranberry Cultivar Acreage Survey: Are we shunning genetic diversity?" by Teryl R. Roper, a survey by the Cranberry Marketing Committee was published showing the planted cranberry acreage by cultivar. Stevens (13,453), Early Blacks (6,866), Howes (4,693), Ben Lear (2,749), McFarlin (2,686), Searles (2,571), Pilgrim (710), and Bergman (555) accounted for most of the production. LeMunyon (212), Natives (141) Mixed (653) and Other (365) accounted for the rest. According to Paul Eck (The American Cranberry, page 62) in the 150 years since the commercial cultivation of cranberries there have been 132 selections from the wild propagation in addition to the seven improved cultivars obtained from controlled hybridization. In a table of colors, Eck describes the primary cranberries currently being grown in the United States as follows: Been Lear - deep red, Bergman - red, Crowley, deep red, Early Black - dark, Franklin - red to dark red, Howes - good red color, McFarlin - deep red, Pilgrim - dark, Searles -deep red, and Stevens -deep red. I hope you aren't expressing the sentiment of Ocean Spray management. I want to believe Ocean Spray made an honest error on the label language and will correct it before the Federal Trade Commission orders them to do so. As for Susie Homemaker, I agree she doesn't care whether white cranberry juice is made from truly ripe berries or not. However I have far more confidence than you appear to in her wanting companies she supports with her purchases to engage in ethical business practices. Do you understand what I am saying: the label of White Cranberry Juice misrepresents the facts. As such I believe it is in violation of FTC regulations. White Cranberry juice IS NOT made from fully ripened cranberries. It is made from mature berries that have not fully ripened. Ocean Spray is a trusted company. I do not think it will allow a new product
to go into national distribution with a falsehood on its label. I do not think it is unethical at all. And, I highly doubt that FTC would think it needed to be reworded. It's all relative....fully ripened obviously means different things to you and to me. Are the berries that are picked when they are pink or pale red not ripe? They could be left longer to turn very dark purple...almost black. They are fully ripe when they are purple, they are fully ripe when they are red, they are fully ripe when they are pink and yes they are fully ripe even before that! Response
Do you understand the
meaning of the word "fully?" I know the FTC does. Can you be
almost pregnant? There is a standard for what fully ripe means - read
what Paul Eck has to say. Talk to a horticulturist or botanist. The word
isn't relative. A fruit can become fully ripe after picked. A fruit can
be unripe, almost ripe, fully ripe, and beyond that it becomes over-ripe
and eventually it rots. Sometimes you can tell degrees of ripeness by
color, other times by smell or softness. I think even Susie Homemaker
probably knows that Thanks, I needed another laugh. |
