Most people buy juice from a grocery store from time to time. The actual ingredients of juice, however, may vary from what is advertised on the package. Perhaps this is obvious to some, but to others, they may think they’re buying real juice when they are only buying sugar and water.
While the FDA regulates some aspects of the information presented on the packaging, juice makers still have enough wiggle room to mislead buyers through tricky marketing language.
How do you know if you’re buying real 100% juice?
You have to read the ingredient label on the back and ignore the label on the front. The FDA requires labels that list the ingredients in descending order of predominance according to weight. The heaviest ingredients are first and the lightest are last. Manufacturer’s don’t have to reveal the % of each ingredient in order to protect their trade secrets. Yet, if they claim something is juice, they have to say what % juice it contains. Let’s look at some examples of how buyers can still be mislead…
Safeway apple juice cocktail = not juice
Anything that says ‘cocktail’, ‘blend’, or ‘drink’ is usually code for a mix of cheap ingredients like corn syrup. Companies often substitute the syrup for the real juice, because it’s cheaper to produce.
Mott’s 100% apple juice = real juice
These are 100% apple juice. They’re usually from concentrate and well diluted, but that’s about as close as you can get to pure juice, without buying expensive apple cider. Note that you can’t simply rely on a name brand for real juice. The same brands may offer different product lines- some not containing juice at all.
Snapple = not juice
This Mango Madness Snapple is 95% sugar water and other unnatural ingredients. Only 5% of the drink is the mango juice advertised. The ingredient label reveals what’s really in it: Water, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Kiwi Juice from Concentrate, Citric Acid, Natural Flavors, Mango Puree, Vegetable Juice and Beta Carotene (for Color).
Sunny Delight = not juice
Some people confuse Sunny Delight for orange juice, but it’s not even close. The ingredients reveal that it’s again just sugar water and various unnatural ingredients, which aren’t that healthy. Water, High Fructose Corn Syrup and 2% or Less of each of the Following: Concentrated Juices (Orange, Tangerine, Apple, Lime, Grapefruit), Citric Acid, Ascorbic Acid (Vitamin C), Thiamin Hydrochloride (Vitamin B1), Natural Flavors, Modified Cornstarch, Canola Oil, Sodium Citrate, Cellulose Gum, Xanthan Gum, Sodium Hexametaphosphate, Sodium Benzoate to Protect Flavor, Yellow No. 5, Yellow No. 6. (This was just copied and pasted from a website)
Dole Pineapple, Orange, Banana 100% juice = mostly apple juice
While this is 100% juice, it isn’t the juice the front label suggests. It’s apple juice with some pineapple juice and even less of the other ingredients.
Safeway Pomegranate juice = mostly pineapple juice, apple juice, and water
This is 100% juice, but not the juice you think it is. When you’re spending $5.99 for it at Safeway, you’re probably serious about getting what is advertised. But a look at the ingredient label reveals this is mostly water, pineapple juice, and apple juice- contrary to the front label saying pomegranate juice and showing only pictures of pomegranates. A much lower percentage than the other juices is pomegranate and blueberry. The FDA doesn’t require them to put the exact percentage of the pomegranate and blueberry, but with 3 higher % ingredients, you could assume it’s not very much.
Pomegranate juice = real 100% pomegranate juice
This is actual 100% pomegranate juice. It says it right on the ingredient label. And it’s the same price at the fake pomegranate blend above.
Misleading tactic:
Marketers discovered people become used to looking for the word ’100%’, as in ’100% juice’. So guess what? They now put ’100% vitamin C’ prominently on many labels- perhaps so you think it’s actually 100% juice, when it isn’t. This is common for grape juice, since it’s one of the most expensive juices to produce. So, they cut many corners in not giving you real 100% grape juice but pass it off as real by the ’100% vitamin C’ tactic. Beware!
To summarize, marketers are crafty with their juice product labels and fancy graphics. The prudent shopper should just ignore the wording and look at the ingredient label for the real story on what the drink contains. If you’re going to shop for fruit juice, you might as well get the real stuff.
where to find what looks like i&a or l&a brand pomegranate juice above. thanx wc
Try Safeway.
OMG!!!!! i drink sunny D every day and i thought it was good for me. i should have read the bottle.
SunnyD is garbage.