October 7, 2008
- Pasco, Washington
Confusing Juice Labels
By Heather Reese
Juice sports all sorts of labels these days: “light juice,” “juice beverage,” and “juice cocktail,” just to name a few. Letters from readers prompted Consumer Reports to take a closer look. One reader wrote, “Boy was I duped.” She bought what she thought was real juice and it actually contained no juice at all!
Two labels to look for so that you don’t get fooled: “100% juice” or “100% pure.” Those labels mean you’re getting pure juice. But you still want to read the label. Often juices are actually a blend. And a lot of times you’ll see that apple or grape juice is actually the first ingredient—so you could end up getting more of those juices than the featured juice that you actually want. If you see juice “cocktail,” “beverage,” or “drink,” that’s a red flag because those have less than 100 percent juice. Those drinks can contain as little as 5 percent juice. Water and sweeteners such as high fructose corn syrup often make up the rest. And what exactly is “light” juice? Some big juice companies, including Tropicana, Welch’s, and Ocean Spray, have come out with “light” versions of their juices, which they tout as having less sugar and fewer calories. Those are often regular juice diluted with water. That’s something you can do yourself, saving plenty of money. For 100 percent juice products that are blended with apple or grape juice, customer-service representatives from Tropicana and Ocean Spray told Consumer Reports the apple and grape juice add sweetness and make tarter juices, such as cranberry and pomegranate, more palatable. |
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