Whole aisles, frozen food displays and refrigerated space of most local grocery stores can be devoted to tempting Americans with various forms of juice and juice products.  Juice drinks or beverages (only fruit juice can use the words “fruit juice”), in an attempt to gain credibility will add descriptive terms such as all natural, premium, pure, select, exotic, made from concentrate and contains 10-15% juice.

Let’s examine these terms:

·        Natural only means that the product is not man made or artificial.  Sugar comes from the sugar beet therefore sugar is natural.  Water is natural.  Even most of the flavorings and colorings used in food products come from natural sources.  This does not mean that they are healthy.

·        Premium is often attributed as having a higher grade or quality.  But how can one highly sugared beverage have a higher grade or quality of another?  What ingredients make it a higher quality and who, but the manufacturer, gave it this value?

·        Select can be defined as picked from the best.  Best of what?  The best sugar beet?

·        Exotic can be defined as fascinating or interesting because it is strange or different.  Maybe the taste is different but that does not make it healthy or good.

·        Made from concentrate just means that originally water was removed and then added back into the product.  Often fruit juices are made into a concentrate, usually for transport or storage, and then reconstituted to be drinkable.   Probably there is some fruit juice in the product that has been reconstituted.

·        Contains 10% fruit juice often is associated as being a healthier product.  However, what this claim is really saying is that the product is 90% sugared water.  If you drink an eight-ounce glass you will be receiving .8 ounces of fruit juice.  You would have to drink 40 ounces of this product to get a 4-ounce serving of actual juice.  This is probably fine with the manufacture but 40 ounces will supply 600 calories and only 60 of those calories are fruit juice calories.  

The best that you can do as a consumer is to not look at the pictures or the manufacturer’s arbitrary description of the product, but look at the ingredient list.  You might note that regardless of the different flavors of juice offered, many products list apple juice as the first ingredient.  A serving size is ½-¾ cup, and moderation is still the key.