The USDA Agricultural Marketing Service has posted a final notice confirming revisions to federal orange juice grading standards, concluding a rulemaking process that began last year.
The AMS posted the final notice on June 25, 2026, stating it will publish the changes as provided in the interim final notice released in November 2025.
The regulatory process began in August 2025, when the FDA released a proposed rule to lower the required minimum Brix content for orange juice products.
Then-FDA Commissioner Marty Makary discussed the rule in a video alongside US Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins, framing it as a long-overdue modernisation of food standards.
Makary said that “for years, we’ve been wasting beautiful American oranges simply due to an outdated regulation,” underscoring the administration’s rationale for the change.
Following FDA’s proposed rule, USDA issued an interim final rule on November 18, 2025, revising its grading system and deferring to FDA’s standard of identity for Grade B pasteurised orange juice.
The interim rule took effect immediately upon publication, though USDA opened a 60-day public comment period to gather industry and consumer feedback.
USDA received five comments in total during that period, three of which expressed support for revising the Grade B Brix allowances under the updated grading framework.
One comment was described as “not responsive to the action in the interim final notice,” while a fifth raised concerns about potential impacts on the taste and nutritional quality of orange juice.
USDA responded to that concern by noting that, according to FDA, the changes would have minimal impacts on taste or nutritional value for consumers.
Rather than establishing a Brix value of its own, AMS will now direct readers to FDA’s standards as set out in 21 C.F.R. 146.140(a), aligning the two agencies’ frameworks.
AMS confirmed it plans to publish the updated changes at its grades and standards webpage, bringing the rulemaking process to a formal close after nearly a year of regulatory activity.