Florida woman walks by a fresh-squeezed lemonade stand. Then she catches the worker in a lie: ‘Isn’t it illegal?’

A Florida woman called out a lemonade stand for allegedly lying about the juice it’s selling as being “fresh-squeezed.” TikTok user Nova Pena (@novaxpena) uploaded a clip that garnered more than 1.5 million views on the popular social media application. Throngs of commenters who saw the clip had the same reaction as she did: If a place is selling beverages that sure don’t look like they’re fresh-squeezed, how can they be classified as such?

Here’s what we know about the recent, viral situation.

(Not-So) Fresh-Squeezed Lemonade

Pena begins her video by zooming into the lemonade tent’s text, which reads: “Fresh squeezed lemonade.” However, when she pans the camera down, she shows an employee selling the beverages; he is mixing a clear plastic tub of pink liquid. Beside it, is a yellow-labeled container of Country Time powdered Lemonade. And next to that, is another cup adorned with decorations of strawberries, which appears to have a pink powder inside of it. Throughout the video, the worker fills the tub with water from a hose, as he stirs the beverage. 

At the end of the video, she shows that the tent is emblazoned with verbiage indicating the drinks are “fresh squeezed” along with another sign that advertises the sale of “Ice Cold Strawberry Lemonade.”

Pena wrote in the post’s caption: “Some say they have trust issues from their first breakup. I’d say I have trust issues from the Florida Strawberry Festival. I assume the Country Time mix was once squeezed,” she sarcastically remarked.

Juice Rulings in Florida

Different states have different rulings when it comes to selling freshly squeezed juices. When it comes to mobile food and beverage stands in the state of Florida, vendors interested in selling squeezed juices need to abide by strict ordinances. And if they can’t abide by these regulations, then they’ll need to opt for dishing out shelf-stable options to its customers.

This Feeding Florida document lists standards for mobile food permits in the Sunshine State. It says that Mobile food vendors “that extract and sell juice by the glass are permitted to squeeze fresh fruit/vegetable juice at a mobile site without … a HACCP plan or E. Coli testing of product or a display of a warning placard.”

One would think that this would give businesses more free reign and less red tape to deal with when selling freshly squeezed fruit and vegetable juices. However, this comes with its own stipulations. According to Florida law, “a certified food manager” must be present under these conditions. Additionally, the juice cannot be squeezed into a large container and must be made on a per-glass, single-serving container, i.e., it cannot come with a lid or cap. Moreover, the fruits and vegetables cannot be hand-squeezed, but rather placed into an enclosed machine. There are also a slew of other sanitation and cleanliness practices that businesses must abide by in order to serve freshly squeezed juices.

Commenters Sound Off

Due to the number of policies food vendors must adhere to, it’s understandable why some mobile vendors would opt to sell powdered beverages to customers. Mixing up FDA-approved food items could cause a lot less headache than accidentally squeezing a moldy lemon for lemonade and causing a customer to get sick for those selling drinks. But for many who replied to Nova’s video, that still doesn’t justify calling Country Time lemonade mix “fresh squeezed.” As one person penned: “Y’all pay 15 dollars for hose water and powder.” Another stated: “Isn’t it illegal to completely misrepresent what is in the food?” Someone else said that they wouldn’t purchase a beverage from a place that promotes its wares as being freshly squeezed, without demonstrating any evidence as to how this is the case. “If they ain’t picking your lemon, cutting it with the big machine and mushing it on site, I ain’t buying,” they stated.

FDA Juice Rulings = False Advertising?

The Food and Drug Administration does indeed allow for some juices to be advertised as “fresh squeezed.” But, there are a list of rulings when it comes to this determination. Furthermore, the agency does acknowledge that “pasteurized or reconstituted juice may be labeled as fresh squeezed juice.” Although, clear indicators that the juice is pasteurized, and the percentage of actual fruit juice in a product must be labeled in the product.

Under this definition, powdered juice is technically considered reconstituted, as are frozen juice packs you’d find in your grocery store’s freezer aisle.

However, that doesn’t mean gripes and grievances can’t be raised. This Reddit user vented their frustration with a lemonade stand that claimed to be selling freshly squeezed lemonade. Instead, they were using a reconstituted product to do so. Some users on the app mentioned that the vendor selling the juice didn’t say they were squeezing lemonades, but lemonade. Akin to a comment made by a TikToker on Nova’s post, stating that the employee was squeezing the hose handle in order to make the juice.

Slay has reached out to the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services via email and Nova via TikTok direct message for further comment.

@novaxpena Some say they have trust issues from their first breakup…I’d say I have trust issues from the Florida Strawberry Festival. I assume the Country Time mix was once squeezed. #fyp #floridastrawberryfestival #freshsqueezedlemonade #funny ♬ original sound – A

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