During a discussion of inflation on his radio show today, Glenn Beck said the “orange growers association said that orange juice will -- and I'm quoting -- 'become a luxury item.' ”

BECK: I do care if food, gas, and clothing -- because those are the things that if the average person can't afford those, those are the things revolutions are built on.

STU BURGUIERE (executive producer): And those things are unquestionably rising right now.

BECK: Right. Orange juice? Orange juice -- the orange growers association said that orange juice in the coming months will -- and I'm quoting -- “become a luxury item.”

First, there seems to be no “Orange Growers Association.” There is an Orange Growers Marketing Association, which is part of the familiar farming co-op called Florida's Natural Growers, but no “Orange Growers Association.”

A spate of articles from media outlets in both the U.S. and the U.K. have carried warnings about orange juice becoming a “luxury.” They all wind back to an item from The Grocer, a British trade magazine for the “food, drink and grocery retailing market.”

The Grocer piece, headlined “Soaring costs 'will turn orange juice into a luxury,' ” reported:

Fruit juice prices are set to rise sharply this year as spiralling raw material costs turn orange and apple juice into luxury items for many households.

Poor weather in key growing areas coupled with burgeoning demand from countries such as China have sent raw material costs soaring, with experts predicting factory prices could rise by as much as 80% for orange juice and 60% for apple juice in 2011.

[...]

Richard Hall, chairman of food consultancy Zenith International, said orange and apple juice producers were already the world's largest, most efficient juice producers, so there was little room for them to absorb cost increases.

“Pricing for orange and apple juice this year could see the most radical change,” he said.

Zenith International says that it's “Europe's leading food and drinks consultancy” and that it “has over 1,000 clients across more than 50 countries.” That is definitely not an orange growers association.

And the claim that orange juice will become a “luxury item” seems to originate from The Grocer itself, not any particular source.

Beck has a long history of fearmongering about inflation -- that it will lead to revolution, that it's causing food prices to spiral, that that we're devaluing the dollar, etc.

Beck's recent concern about orange juice prices is shared by The New American, the publication run by the fringe right-wing group the John Birch Society, with which Beck has many ties.