Don't Be Fooled by Misleading Juice Labels

CR May '08 Cover2 YONKERS, NY — Consumer Reports has decoded juice-label lingo to help consumers buy what they intend and avoid added sugars and artificial ingredients.

Some CR readers say that they have been fooled by juice plucked off store shelves—including a recently discontinued Ocean Spray juice labeled “blueberry, pomegranate, and cranberry,” which listed grape and apple juice first on the label; a Sunny D product labeled “orange fused pineapple” that contained mostly water and high-fructose corn syrup with 5 percent juice, none of it pineapple; and a bottle of Veryfine Fruit20 Plus Citrus Energy Boost, since discontinued, composed of artificially flavored water, vitamins, and caffeine.

The full report on juice-label lingo is available in the May issue of Consumer Reports, on sale April 8 and online at www.ConsumerReports.org.

Here are some basics compiled by Consumer Reports’ experts to help consumers understand what’s in the juice they’re buying:

“100 percent juice” or “100 percent pure.” This is the gold standard, indicating that the product contains pure juice, possibly reconstituted from concentrate (juice that has been concentrated, then rewatered to return it to its original form). One-hundred-percent juice blends are often made with apple or grape juice as the first ingredient and the featured juice lower on the list. That’s allowed, as long as companies state on the label what the product really is.

“Juice cocktail,” “drink,” or “beverage,” are red flags. These drinks contain less than 100 percent juice and sometimes as little as 5 percent. Water, flavorings, and added sweeteners like high-fructose corn syrup might make up the rest.

“Light juice.” Tropicana, Welch’s, Ocean Spray, Mott’s, and other brands have come out with the light versions of their juices that tout less sugar and fewer calories. These are basically regular juice diluted with water in some cases, artificially sweetened, and priced the same as regular juice.

CR recommends that consumers should choose “100% juice,” but to check the ingredients for the listing of the juice they are looking for. Ingredients appear in descending order of weight. To save calories or money, consumers can dilute 100 percent juice with chilled water or seltzer.

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