Oh My Darlin’, Clementine!
For the past few months, my family has been on a major fruit-eating kick. We are especially LOVING Clementines, so each week I hunt around to try to find them for a mere $5.99 for 5 pounds, as opposed to $7.99 for 5 pounds, which is their regular price at our Publix and Kroger stores. It is still a lot of money, but my kids eat them like candy, and it is so much healthier than, say, fruit roll-ups!
Well, I made the trek to the next town’s Target last week, and I found Clementines for $5.99, so I scooped up a box. These look the same as those I have been buying all along on the outside. But the inside is…weird. The inner skin is orange instead of white, and the sections are bright orange. It lead my DH to wonder if they are dyed orange. I thought that sounded crazy, but I decided to do a Google search anyway. Not much turned up, but I did find one article on the Earthbound Farms website. It states:
Color is not necessarily an indicator of ripeness or quality. Oranges are always picked when they are ripe, but Florida oranges (with the exception of organic fruit) are often dyed with food color. This is not true of oranges produced in California or Arizona, where state laws prohibit adding color to citrus fruits.
So, you only think you are eating foods that are natural when you buy produce from your local supermarket. All I have to say is that I can’t wait for our local farmer’s market to open! And although Florida is closer to Alabama than California, and I tend to like to buy things that are shipped a shorter distance, I don’t think I can stomach buying Florida produce. Bright orange clementines, indeed!
Posted in This and That
March 16th, 2006 at 4:01 pm
That is another reason we buy as much organic or Kosher as we can.
March 16th, 2006 at 4:10 pm
i’m not sure how far away the “next town’s Target” is, but with today’s gas prices and the fact that you drive a big ol’ van, you may have spent the $2.00/lb. you were saving on clementines on gas instead. and, then you ended up with “weird” and scary clementines. the moral of the story: sometimes a bargain just isn’t a bargain. just a little “food for thought.”
March 16th, 2006 at 6:26 pm
Whoa! I’ve heard of the outside being colored, but the INSIDE???? oH MY!
March 17th, 2006 at 6:51 am
Yeah, I should take pictures. The funny thing is, usually a box of clementines is gone in 2-3 days, max. We’ve had these since Monday, and the bowl is still full. Even my kids won’t eat them (nevermind what other weird things they’ll put into their bodies!).
Rutatita, you have a point. But then, there’s Target itself…and they have a Starbucks…and I got over two hours ALONE. It was wonderful in spite of the orange clementines. Oh–and with my van, I think it probably cost about $5 to make the round trip. I really need a car with better gas mileage.
March 17th, 2006 at 9:35 am
oh,i didn’t mean that you shouldn’t go to Target (although, after today’s blog about treating ourselves,” i’m not so sure). i was merely making a point about some things not being the bargains we think they are. i myself am i Target-aholic. actually, i think i’m more of a reformed Target-aholic. i love the store, but i don’t go nearly as much as i used to. maybe it’s because we have a “smaller” Target–one without the grocery store and Starbucks. but in a weird twist, when i visit my sister four hours away in that same mega-large town where you grew up, i almost always go to Target and almost always go to the in-Target Starbucks and buy a grande caramel frappucino lite with whipped cream (i know the latter probably defeats the “lite” but it makes me feel better about ingesting those delicious empty calories). however, at home, i rarely venture to the Target which is maybe 15 minutes away. and, i’ve only gone to the Starbucks ON MY STREET twice in the year that it has been open. yep, weird.
March 19th, 2006 at 7:57 pm
Ewwww! Florida oranges are “allowed” to be dyed?!
We’ve bought those little crates of clementines throughout the year, too. I have the crates in my little pantry to help organize things in there. The boys do love them–mostly. But sometimes we do get a bad batch.
There was a sickly sweet smell in the air last night. Hubby said that’s the smell when Tropicana has had food sitting out in the yards and rotting, and the wind is blowing the wrong direction.
Still, it’s better than the moldy-leaves smell of Abbott Pharmaceuticals (which we used to live near) but a far cry from the yummy smell of the Jelly Belly factory (which was also in that neighborhood.)
March 23rd, 2006 at 10:52 am
First of all, yuck. Isn’t it weird too that they dye them to look good and you don’t want to eat them because they look weird? The dying tactic doesn’t seem to be working. Secondly, Tulipgirl where do you live now? We live currently live in Keonsha which is where I am assuming you used to live. Just curious.