C. D. Atkins

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C. D. Atkins (b. September 7, 1913 - d. June 3, 2000) was an American food scientist who co-created the process to create Frozen Orange Juice Concentrate in 1945, which is still is use today.

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[edit] Early years

Cedric Donald Atkins was born in Winter Haven, Florida, the only child of James H. Atkins, a railroad telegraph operator, and his wife, Christina, an elementary-school teacher. The family had inherited 200 acres of land in 1887, and they planted orange groves, which supplemented their income. C. D. Atkins attended the University of Florida for three years, planning to be a doctor. However, his parents ran out of money for tuition, and he transferred to Florida Southern College near his parents' home in Lakeland, Florida, where he could help finance his tuition by teaching chemistry, biology and physics at the college. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in 1937. After graduation, he taught high school and coached football in the nearby towns of Plant City, Florida, Fort Meade, Florida and Winter Haven. In 1942, he became a research scientist with the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Atkins married the former Martha Kathryn Marsh; they had two children, a daughter, Barbara, and a son, Robert.

[edit] Claim to Citrus fame

In the early 1940’s, the Florida Citrus Commission asked the USDA for assistance in improving the quality of processed orange products. The goal was to provide better juice for the armed forces and make more efficient use of Florida's orange crop. The work began in 1942 at a USDA laboratory in Lakeland, Florida. The research team consisted of three men: Dr. Louis G. MacDowell, Research Director of the Florida Citrus Commission; Edwin L. Moore and C. D. Atkins, both chemists and research scientists with the USDA. The concentration process, which involves heating the juice so that the water evaporates, was already well known, but when the juice was reconstituted, it was lacking in taste. It took them three years, but the three scientists invented a process in which the flavor of orange juice could be retained by adding a small quantity of fresh juice to the concentrate prior to freezing it. Called the cutback process, it led to the expansion of the Florida citrus economy as well as surrounding industries for transporting and warehousing the juice. It also created a more nutritious product by restoring some of the Vitamin C that was lost in heating. The new process for frozen orange juice was patented in 1946 under an agreement in which the patent belonged to the federal government.[1] The frozen citrus concentrate was marketed through the Snow Crop label which would later become Minute Maid.[2]

[edit] Honors

All three men were inducted together into the Florida Agricultural Hall of Fame in 1986 for their contributions to the Citrus Industry.[3] The three were also recognized as Great Floridians in 2007, honoring persons who made major contributions to the progress and welfare of the state of Florida.[4]

[edit] References

  1. ^ The New York Times: June 8, 2000- C. D. Atkins, 86, Inventor of Orange Juice Process
  2. ^ University of Florida: Citrus Research & Education Center-Brief History of Frozen Concentrate
  3. ^ 1986 Florida Agricultural Hall of Fame Inductees
  4. ^ Florida Legislature website: The 2007 Florida Statutes-Title XVIII

[edit] External links