Bill Text: NJ A2271 | 2022-2023 | Regular Session | Enrolled
Bill Title: Designates cranberry juice as State juice.
Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Democrat 5-1)
Status: (Passed) 2023-08-07 - Approved P.L.2023, c.134. [A2271 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2022-A2271-Enrolled.html
§1
C.52:9A-20
An Act designating cranberry juice as the State 1[beverage] juice1.
Whereas, A fruit native to North America, the cranberry grows on an evergreen shrub that thrives in wet areas, such as bogs or wetlands; and
Whereas, The history of cranberries predates the arrival of the first European settlers in the Western Hemisphere as cranberries were a staple of the diets of Native-Americans; and
Whereas, The Lenni Lenape people from southern New Jersey harvested wild cranberries and used the fruit in a variety of remedies, foods, and drinks; and
Whereas, In New Jersey, commercial cranberry farming began in 1835 in a bog in Burlington County and New Jersey is now the third largest cranberry producing state in the United States; and
Whereas, Records indicate that cranberries sold for as much as $50 a barrel in the 1840s when merchants sold cranberries to sailors who consumed the fruit for its high Vitamin C content to help ward off scurvy; and
Whereas, In 1[1917] 19121, Elizabeth Lee of New Jersey was 1one of1 the first 1[person] people1 to create 1jellied1 cranberry sauce from the berries and later joined forces with other farmers to start the company that became known as Ocean Spray, famous for its bottled cranberry juice; and
Whereas, Research indicates that cranberry juice is full of nutrients that may have significant health benefits by boosting the immune system; and
Whereas, New Jersey does not have a state 1[beverage] juice1 and it is fitting and proper to formally recognize the significance of cranberries to the history and culture of our State and its people by designating cranberry juice as the State 1[beverage] juice1; now, therefore,
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. Cranberry juice is designated as the State 1[beverage] juice1.
2. This act shall take effect immediately.
Designates cranberry juice as State juice.