The OJ Post

03 Nov '04

Posted by: ryan in: Food

I’ve decided to bring together some information about Vitamin D-enhanced orange juice from various companies. I’m going to do so in this post. I’ll be writing to various orange juice manufacturers to find out where the vitamin D in their juice comes from. Results will be accumulated here.

Tropicana
Non-animal derived

Hello Ryan:

Thank you for visiting the Tropicana Website. We are happy to answer your questions.

Vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin that aids in the absorption of calcium and phosphorus from food. Vitamin D functions to raise the blood levels of calcium and phosphorus and is part of a large group of bone-making and bone-maintaining nutrients and other compounds. Some vitamin D is made in the body when skin is exposed to sunlight. The form of vitamin D added to Tropicana products is vitamin D3. It is a synthetic powder and is the same form that is added to milk. Our source of vitamin D is not derived from an animal and the product is kosher certified.

We hope this information is helpful.

Judy

Minute Maid
Animal derived

Thank you for contacting Coca-Cola North America, Mr. MacMichael. We appreciate your interest in our brands.

Our Vitamin D is actually made in a process similar to how your own body makes Vitamin D. Your skin naturally makes a cholesterol called 7-dehydrocholesterol. When you go out into the sunlight, the sun irradiates your skin and this 7-dehydrocholesterol is converted into vitamin D3.

Vitamin D used in Minute Maid juice comes from isolating the cholesterol component from lanolin. Cholesterol is then converted to 7-dehydrocholesterol, which when activated by ultra-violet irradiation and purified this component becomes Vitamin D3 (cholecalciferol).

We hope this information is helpful. Should you have additional questions or comments, please do not hesitate to contact us again.

Bonnie
Industry and Consumer Affairs

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8 Responses

Ryan Howard
07|Nov|2004 1

ALL VITAMIN D3 IS NOT VEGAN. It’s cholecalciferol. HENCE, both minute maid AND tropicana use non-vegan D3.

D2 IS vegan.

-Ryan
Ryan
07|Nov|2004 2

Hmmm… that’s what I originally thought, too, but the response from Tropicana directly contradicts that. Perhaps I’ll check with a few other reliable sources and see what they say.
Joe Jepsen
23|Nov|2004 3

Is it possible to get OJ without vitamin D added? With all these companies adding synthetic vitamins that arn’t properly processed by the body you can overdoes on them!

Vitamin D toxicity can cause nausea, vomiting, poor appetite, constipation, weakness, and weight loss. It can also raise blood levels of calcium, causing mental status changes such as confusion.

High blood levels of calcium also can cause heart rhythm abnormalities. Calcinosis, the deposition of calcium and phosphate in the body’s soft tissues such as the kidney, can also be caused by vitamin D toxicity.
Ryan
23|Nov|2004 4

Joe — Sure, lots of OJ comes “plain” or without vitamin D.
holy holily holian
30|Aug|2005 5

salutations holiests holy healing life peace truth calm,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lanolin
Lanolin, a grease from wool-bearing animals, acts as a skin ointment, water-proofing wax, and raw material (such as in shoe polish).

Lanolin is “wool fat” or grease, chemically akin to wax, it is produced by wool-bearing animals such as sheep, and is secreted by their sebaceous glands. These glands are associated with hair follicles. Lanolin acts as a waterproofing wax, and recent studies indicate that antibiotics are also present in the lanolin. It aids sheep in shedding water from their coats. Certain breeds of sheep produce large amounts of lanolin, and the extraction can be performed by squeezing the wool between rollers. Lanolin is used commercially in a great many products ranging from rust-preventative coatings to cosmetics. Most or all the lanolin is removed from wool when it is processed into textiles e.g. yarn or felt.

Lanolin is often used as a raw material for producing vitamin D3.

so minute maid is not vegan, from an animal. & probably the same with tropicana, for they don’t call sheeps wool animal. i argued this many times with companies that put it in vitamins. but the health department has no power to safeguard us, by omitting the company has to say if its an animal. so either the health department needs, help or it isn’t doing its job.
‘
we need to check further if that synthetic powder is vegan, for they may call it synthetic because of how its dreived, by squeezing wool hair between rollers. & out comes a product that is synthetic to the people whom care not enough, or fail to relalize they are ignorant that that is an animal product.

so till more proof comes, vitamin d-3 is non vegan, & the synthetic is probably from sheeps wool or some animal part. it has to be a liver or hand, wing, leg, etc… to be an animal part to some companies, for they are into making money, so don’t care, only if what will sell, & saying products from wool is animal they bypass. they aren’t aware of the health dangers & should be told. if we we tell these major companies to use vitamin d-2 instead, for the synthetic & wool made d-3 is harmful to us, & cruelty is involved.

blessings of holiests holy healing life peace calm truth 4 ever
Vegan Sommelier
30|Aug|2005 6

Actually, yes, it *is* true that vitamin D3 can be synthesized (meaning produced artificially) these days, rather than derived from lanolin. While this is still more the exception than the norm when it comes to D3, the synthetic version does exist, and it is the form used by Tropicana.
Maynard S. Clark
04|Jan|2006 7

I hope that we’ll be seeing SOON a spate of articles in major vegetarian, animal rights, natural health, macrobiotic, etc. publications about this issue, with at least this level of sophistication and sensitivity.
Michael Donaldson
12|May|2006 8

Synthetic vitamin D3, cholecalciferol is available for formulators from DSM Nutritional Products. They are a supplier, not a retailer, but you can encourage the use of this synthetic D3 form in formulas, as it is the form which is bio-identical to what your skin makes in the sunshine.