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Are Canned Tangerines Treated with Hydrochloric Acid?

Is it true that the skins of canned tangerines are removed with hydrochloric acid? If so, doesn’t that have to be on the can?

Canned tangerines look perfect – no white parts can be seen and even the skins are completely removed.

Before processing, the fruits are first peeled, sometimes by hand, but also with the help of rubber rollers. Then the tangerines are divided into the individual segments with a strong jet of water and then actually come into a hydrochloric acid bath.

The tangerine pieces remain in the highly diluted hydrochloric acid for about half an hour, and then the white and the skin are gone. So that the flesh of the fruit is not etched away, it is bathed in highly diluted caustic soda. This will neutralize the hydrochloric acid. The tangerine pieces are then rinsed again with water to remove any acid and lye residues.

There is no labeling in the list of ingredients on the can of mandarins, since the hydrochloric acid or caustic soda are removed again and no longer have any technological effect in the end product.

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Written by John Myers

Professional Chef with 25 years of industry experience at the highest levels. Restaurant owner. Beverage Director with experience creating world-class nationally recognized cocktail programs. Food writer with a distinctive Chef-driven voice and point of view.

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