§146.114. Lemon juice.

Description. Lemon juice is the unfermented juice, obtained by mechanical process, from sound, mature lemons (Citrus limon (L.) Burm. f.), from which seeds (except embryonic seeds and small fragments of seed which cannot be separated by good manufacturing practice) and excess pulp are removed. The juice may be adjusted by the addition of the optional concentrated lemon juice ingredient specified in paragraph (a)(2) of this section in such quantity so that the increase in acidity, calculated as anhydrous citric acid, does not exceed 15 percent of the acidity of the finished food. The lemon oil and lemon essence (derived from lemons) content may be adjusted in accordance with good manufacturing practice. The juice may have been concentrated and later reconstituted. When prepared from concentrated lemon juice, the finished food contains not less than 6 percent, by weight, of soluble solids taken as the refractometric sucrose value (of the filtrate), corrected to 20 °C, but uncorrected for acidity, in accordance with the “International Scale of Refractive Indices of Sucrose Solutions” in section 52.012 of “Official Methods of Analysis of the Association of Official Analytical Chemists,” 13th Ed. (1980), which is incorporated by reference, and has a titratable acidity content of not less than 4.5 percent, by weight, calculated as anhydrous citrus acid. Copies of the incorporation by reference may be obtained from the AOAC INTERNATIONAL, 481 North Frederick Ave., suite 500, Gaithersburg, MD 20877, or may be examined at the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). For information on the availability of this material at NARA, call 202-741-6030, or go to: http://www.archives.gov/federal_register/code_of_federal_regulations/ibr_locations.html. The food may contain one or any combination of the safe and suitable optional ingredients specified in paragraph (a)(2) of this section. Lemon juice, as defined in this paragraph, may be preserved by heat sterilization (canning), refrigeration, freezing, or by the addition of safe and suitable preservatives. When sealed in a container to be held at ambient temperatures, it is preserved by the addition of safe and suitable preservatives or so processed by heat, before or after sealing, as to prevent spoilage.

Optional ingredients. The optional safe and suitable ingredients referred to in paragraph (a)(1) of this section are:

The standard of fill of container for lemon juice, except when the food is frozen, is not less than 90 percent of the total capacity of the container as determined by the general method for fill of container prescribed in § 130.12(b) of this chapter, except

Compliance is determined as specified in § 146.3(g)(2).

If the lemon juice fails to meet the standard of fill as prescribed in paragraph (c) (1) and (2) of this section, the label shall bear the general statement of substandard fill specified in § 130.14(b) of this chapter, in the manner and form therein prescribed.