A cardboard box tempting with painted fruit and a promising name does not mean that there is juice inside. Producers who tout their products as "natural" often add little fruit juice to them, but a lot of water and other additives. What should you pay attention to to distinguish real juice from flavored and colored drinks?

Juices, nectars, and fruit drinks are sold in the same bottles or cartons, and often have similar names.

That's why it's hard to tell them apart. Large inscriptions: "orange" or "grapefruit with a delicate flesh" make us believe that these are the best quality juices. Meanwhile, it turns out that it's not a juice at all, but a drink or nectar.

Contents:

  1. How to choose a good juice?
  2. How do you know good quality juice?
  3. How much juice is in the juice?
  4. Nectar - half water and half
  5. Drink - sweet chemistry
  6. How to choose a good juice? Read labels

How to choose a good juice?

According to EU law, juice can be a drink made only of fruit or vegetables without the addition of water, sugar or chemicals.

This means that store juice should look, taste and smell just like home-squeezed fresh fruit juice.

The fact that you are drinking juice is ensured by the inscription on the packaging: "100 percent juice", and not nectar or a drink. This is very important because nectars and drinks contain juice diluted with water.

According to EU law, juice can be a drink made only of fruit or vegetables without the addition of water, sugar or chemicals.

The imagination of producers to get around the law knows no bounds. They come up with various names that could be misleading.

They put the word "orange", "apple", "tomato" on the package. Apart from the word "juice", they hide information about the contents of the package.

A commonly used marketing gimmick is also the use of the terms: "100 percent. oranges "," straight from the orchard "," fruit of the world "," 100 percent. taste "or just" apple "or just" 100 percent ", which mean nothing.

A large inscription on the packaging says: "cranberry", so we are convinced that we are buying a he althy juice.

At home, it turns out that it is a multi-fruit drink, the main ingredient of which is water, and cranberry only 2%, moreover, among the ingredients are sugar and additiveschemical.

A liter of juice takes twice as much fruit as a liter of nectar, so juices are more expensive than nectars.

How do you know good quality juice?

The quality of the juice largely depends on the quality of the fruit and the method of production. The he althiest and tastiest juices are cloudy, made of fresh fruit and not subjected to pasteurization (e.g. daily ones).

Most of the juices available on the market are made from concentrates (first the fruit is squeezed and then the water is evaporated). 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 has been evaporated.

Thanks to this, there are almost as many soluble substances in the juice (sugars, organic acids, vitamins and minerals) as in fresh fruit.

The natural aroma that was separated during thickening is also added back, and some juices also contain pulp and fruit particles. This technology enables the production of juices from seasonal or exotic fruits all year round and far from the place where they grow.

Experts argue that the reconstituted juice corresponds to the fresh juice of at least medium quality. Provided that it is made in accordance with current standards.

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  • What are the he alth properties of ARONIA JUICE?

How much juice is in the juice?

Juice should contain 85-100 percent. he althy, ripe, fresh or chilled fruit (vegetables). For fruit juices (except pear and grape juice), the manufacturer may add some sugar or other, well-defined natural sweeteners (glucose syrup, fructose) to soften their sour taste.

If the added sugar does not exceed 15 g / l, the producer does not have to declare it on the packaging (the juice is considered unsweetened).

But if there is more of it, please state that the juice is sweetened ("with added sugar"), but the amount of sugar should not exceed 150 g / l. According to the standard, citric acid is added to some juices (up to 3 g / l).But you must not add sugar and acidifying substances 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, beta-carotene) and minerals (e.g. calcium, potassium, magnesium). However, it is forbidden to add artificial flavors, dyes and preservatives.

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This will be useful to you

Fruit or vegetable juices - which are he althier?

Vegetable juices contain more iron, magnesium, calcium, fiber and beta-carotene than fruit juices. Carrot, carrot and peach, carrot and apple juices as well as multi-vegetable juices provide particularly high levels of beta-carotene.

Tomato juice is a source of potassium, beetroot juice - folic acid and fiber. Fruit juices contain a lot of sugar (8-12 g / 100 ml).

Therefore, although they are he althy, they should be drunk with caution (3 glasses a week). People with overweight, diabetes, pancreatic and liver disorders should be especially careful. A good solution is to dilute the juice with mineral water or plain boiled water.

Nectars, and especially drinks, contain a lot of sugar, i.e. empty calories, and not very valuable ingredients. From drinks with a substitute for juice and a lot of additives, it's better to give up at all.

Nectar - half water and half

We associate it with something extraordinary - the drink of the gods, but compared to juice it means inferior quality. Nectars are fresh or concentrated juices and purees diluted with water.

The minimum juice content in nectar is strictly defined:

  • 50 percent for apple, pear, orange, peach, pineapple nectar
  • 40 percent for blackberries, raspberries, strawberries, cherries, apricots
  • 35 percent for cherries
  • 30 percent for plums, gooseberries, cranberries
  • at least 25 percent for currants, lemons, pomegranates, bananas, mango, papaya

You can add more sugar to nectar than to juice, maximum 200 g / l. Most often, one liter of nectar contains approx. 20 teaspoons of sugar.By drinking a glass of nectar, we provide the body with 5 teaspoons of unnecessary sweetness!

Unlike juice, nectar can be mixed with sweeteners (including honey) and acidulants at the same time.

For "no added sugar" or "energy-reduced" fruit nectars, synthetic substances 200-400 times sweeter are used instead of sugar (or partially), e.g. saccharin (E 954), aspartame (E 951) , acesulfame K (950), cyclamic acid (E 952).

These substances cause allergies, diarrhea and headaches in some people and are not recommended for children. Aspartame cannot be consumed by people suffering from a rare hereditary disease - phenylketonuria, because it contains an ingredient that is toxic to them.

In the light version, you shouldn't sell any juices, because you can't add sweeteners to the juices. In nectars, as in juices, there should be no artificial colors, flavors or preservatives.

Drink - sweetchemistry

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

Now they occupy their place among juice-based drinks. There are no limits on the juice content.

It is only assumed that the drink is more diluted juice than nectar. Beverages also include products with a lot of juice (above the norm for nectars), which contain ingredients that are prohibited in the production of nectars and juices.

Usually, however, beverages contain 3-20 percent. juice, the rest is water and natural and artificial colors, flavors, sweeteners, preservatives. Some produce fruit drinks containing only 0.1 percent. juice, and even without a bit of fruit.

You must do it

Choose naturally cloudy juices

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

Juices that are cloudy or with pieces of fruit and unpasteurized are the he althiest. Naturally cloudy juices contain four times more flavonoids, the most effective antioxidants.

Clarified (clear) juices lose some vitamins, minerals and most of the fiber. They contain almost no vitamin C, flavonoids and pectins to reduce bad cholesterol.

You will find more nutrients in juices than nectars. Blackcurrant and citrus juice is a valuable source of vitamin C, orange, grapefruit and pineapple also contain a lot of folic acid.

How to choose a good juice? Read labels

If you want good juice, make it at home. It's very simple and doesn't take any time. And if you don't feel like it, choose products from recognized companies.

It is also worth trying fresh, so-called one-day, juices from small local ecological factories. Before you buy juice, check if there is a trade name of the product on the label, e.g. orange juice, orange nectar or orange drink.

Do not follow the name invented by the manufacturer - various terms such as "100 percent." and added with tiny letters of "flavor" can be misleading.

Often, manufacturers put information on the packaging suggesting that juice or nectar is better than others. For example, the word "contains no preservatives" is a marketing ploy, because no juice or nectar should contain them.

Next to the nameThe producer should provide clear information whether the juice (nectar) was made from concentrate or fresh fruit, and with a minimum fruit content and possible sweetening of the product.

The general rule is: the more juice in the juice, the better. If you use more fruits (vegetables), replace all of them in descending order. If there are more than three ingredients, the list can be replaced with "multi-fruit" ("multi-food").

On the packaging of nectars or drinks you can read: "concentrated juice, water" (more juice than water), "water, concentrated juice" (more water than juice ") or" water, sugar, juice "(more water and sugar). Avoid "fruit-flavored" drinks, because it is sweet water with added chemicals.

The label must show the best-before date, storage conditions, nutritional value, as well as the name of the manufacturer. The more data the manufacturer provided, the more we can be sure that we are buying a good product.

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What do you eat