What are the differences between juice and nectar? In the store, fruit juices tempt with eye-catching packaging and promising names. At home, you find out that you bought a drink with fruit substitutes instead of juice. What should you pay attention to so as not to fall for it? How to distinguish valuable juice from water with sugar, dyes, preservatives and flavors?

Juices, nectars and fruit drinks - store shelves are sagging with their weight. They have similar packaging and names. Therefore, it is difficult to tell them apart. The large inscription "100 percent orange" or "apple with a delicate flesh" suggests thatjuiceis of the best quality. Meanwhile, it turns out to be just a sweeteneddrinkornectar . How do you recognize a good juice? How is it different from nectar and a fruit drink? It is worth knowing this in order not to fall into commercial traps.

Contents:

  1. Juice - how it should look and taste
  2. Nectar - half juice and half with water
  3. Drink - some juice, more toppings
  4. Light drinks and nectars, but not juices
  5. Juices - beware of traps

Juice - how it should look and taste

According to EU law, juice can be defined as a drink that is fermentable but unfermented, made of he althy, ripe, fresh or chilled fruit (vegetables), with the color, taste and aroma characteristic of fruit (vegetables), from which it was made. It simply means that store juice should look, taste and smell just like freshly squeezed at home. There are few juices made directly from fresh fruit (e.g. one-day juices) on the market.

Most of them are reconstituted juices, i.e. produced from fruit concentrate. They often make you mistrust. You're afraid it's "chemistry only." However, specialists argue that it is wrong. The reconstituted juice corresponds to the properties of at least medium-quality fresh juice. Provided that it was produced in accordance with the regulations.

A good juice must contain 85-100 percent. fruit. Fruit juices (except for pear and grape juice) may also contain small amounts of sugar (or other, well-defined natural sweeteners, e.g. glucose or fructose syrup), which soothe their sour taste. If the added sugar does not exceed 15 g / l, the producer is not obliged to declarethe one on the package. But when its content is greater than 15 g / l, the packaging must indicate that the juice is sweetened ("with added sugar"), and the sugar must not exceed 150 g / l. It is also allowed to add citric acid - up to 3 g / l. However, there is an iron rule: sugar and acidifying substances must not be added to the juice at the same time.

Vegetable juices can be seasoned with sugar or honey and / or s alt, herbs and citric acid. All juices can be enriched with vitamins (e.g. C, E, beta-carotene) and minerals (e.g. calcium, potassium, magnesium). However, it is forbidden to add artificial flavors, dyes, and preservatives.

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How to quench your thirst in hot weather?

Nectar - half juice and half with water

This is a juice diluted with water (fresh and concentrated), a puree or a mixture of these products. The minimum juice content in nectar is strictly defined and amounts to:

  • 50 percent for apples, pears, oranges, peaches and pineapples;
  • 40 percent for blackberries, raspberries, strawberries, cherries, apricots ;;
  • 35 percent for cherries;
  • 30 percent for plums, gooseberries and cranberries;
  • not less than 25 percent for black, white and red rivers, lemon, bananas, pomegranates, guava, mango, papaya.

You can add more sugar to nectar than to juice, but its amount must not exceed 200 g / l of sweetened nectar. Unlike juice, nectar can contain both sweetening substances (including honey) and acidifying substances. For "no added sugar" and "energy-reduced" fruit nectars, sweeteners are added instead of sugar (or partially). Nectars should not contain artificial colors, flavors or preservatives.

Drink - some juice, more toppings

Until Poland joined the European Union, they were included in the same product group as juices and nectars, i.e. beverages containing fruit juice.

Now they occupy a place among the so-called non-alcoholic beverages produced on the basis of juices. There are no limits to the amount of fruit here. It is only assumed that fruit drinks contain less juice than nectars. As a result, in most of them you can find no more than 3-5 percent. juice or no juice at all. Although there are also those that contain 20 percent. juice - the manufacturer usually marks it on the label.

Fruit drinks also include products thatwhich, despite the high content of juice (above the standard required for nectar), contain additives allowed for beverages and prohibited in the production of juices and nectars: flavors, natural and artificial dyes, preservatives, artificial sweeteners.

Important

Juices "100 percent". They are reconstituted from concentrated juice, pasteurized

First, the juice is squeezed and then the water is evaporated. In this way, concentrated juice (concentrate) is obtained. Usually, the flesh and flavor are also separated from the juice. But in the further production phase, the concentrated juice is diluted with the amount of water that was removed in the evaporation process (it should meet the drinking water criteria).

As a result, the content of soluble substances (sugars, organic acids, vitamins and minerals) in the reconstituted juice is almost identical to that in fruit.

The natural aroma is also added back - the one that was separated during thickening, and to some juices - also pulp and fruit particles. Why make concentrated juice and then dilute it? This makes it possible to produce juices from seasonal or exotic fruits all year round and far away from the country where they grow.

The label will tell you the truth

It should contain the trade name of the product, e.g. orange juice, orange nectar or orange drink. If you use more fruits (vegetables), replace all of them in descending order, e.g. orange, apricot, peach juice. If there are more than 3 ingredients, the list can be replaced with "multi-fruit" ("multi-food").

Near the name, the producer should clearly indicate whether the juice (nectar) was produced from concentrate or from fresh fruit. If the nectar has been made from one or more concentrated juices, this should be noted. Next to the name, the minimum fruit content should also be provided and the information that the product has been sweetened.

The label must show the best-before date, storage conditions, nutritional value, manufacturer's name. The more data there is, the more certain we are buying a good product.

Light drinks and nectars, but not juices

You can buy nectars and light drinks in shops. They should be at least 30 percent. calories less than their normal counterparts. Various types of sweeteners were used to sweeten them, the taste of which does not suit everyone (eg E 950 acesulfame K, E 951 aspartame, E 952 cyclamic acid, E 954 saccharin). There should be no juices in the light version, because, according to the recipe, no sweeteners should be added to the juices.

Juices - watch out fortraps

Do not follow the name invented by the manufacturer. Various terms printed on the packaging (e.g. "100 percent" and added with tiny letters - "taste" or "fresh oranges" or just "100 percent") may be misleading.

The name makes us believe that this is real juice, but in fact it is often not so. It is also not uncommon for manufacturers to put (completely unnecessary) information on the packaging suggesting that their juice or nectar is better than others.

For example, the words "contains no preservatives" are simply a marketing gimmick in this case, because according to the regulations, no juice or nectar should contain them. Or they list a long list of he alth benefits that drinking this juice and not another is expected to give us. Meanwhile, many other juices also have the same benefits.

Choose products from proven companies. You won't be disappointed when you buy juices from recognized producers, but you should also try juices fresh from small local factories. Always store them according to the manufacturer's recommendations.

Pasteurized juices and nectars remain fresh for the longest, up to 12 months. On the other hand, one-day juices are best drunk within 12 hours, because they lose their nutritional value and ferment quite quickly. After opening, all juices and nectars should be kept in the refrigerator, but not longer than 24 hours, whether they have been pasteurized or not.

You must do it

Drink for he alth

They quench thirst, deacidify the body, are a rich source of vitamins, minerals and fiber. They contain antioxidants that protect us against free radicals responsible for the aging of the body, atherosclerosis and cancer.

The nutritional value of the juice depends on its type. The best in this respect are juices of the puréed type or with fruit particles. When it is clear, they lose some vitamins, minerals and most of their fiber. You'll find more nutrients in juices than nectars.

Vegetable juices exceed fruit juices with iron, magnesium, calcium, fiber and beta-carotene. Carrot juice is especially rich in beta-carotene, while tomato juice is a treasure trove of potassium, as is beetroot juice, which provides a lot of folic acid and fiber.

Blackcurrant and citrus juice is a valuable source of vitamin C, orange, grapefruit and pineapple also contain a lot of folic acid.

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What do you eat