Juice is the liquid that can be extracted and released from a fruit or vegetable. Pure, 100% juice is a fruit or vegetable’s natural fluid or liquid
without any added sugars. If drinking store bought juice or a juice like drink, how can you be sure that the liquid is pure 100% juice?
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration have published specific food labeling requirements and juice definitions that govern how commercially made juice can be described and marketed. If a drink contains fruit or vegetable juice, then the beverage is required to state exactly what the juice percentage is. For example, a drink made up of 50% apple juice should clearly state that the beverage "Contains 50 percent apple juice". If a drink is marketed as 100% juice from concentrate, then the Food and Drug Administration mandates minimum levels of fruit and vegetable concentrates that must be mixed with water. If a beverage contains 100 percent juice and also contains non-juice ingredients then the additional ingredients, preservatives, or sweeteners need to be listed. For example, "100% juice with added sweeteners".
Juice drinkers beware! Many companies market drinks that contain less than 100% juice with clever, healthy sounding names like fruit drink, juice drink, juice cocktail or juice beverage. These healthy sounding, juice like names, try to offset the food label disclosure requirements.
The best way to be sure you’re drinking 100% fruit juice is to make homemade juice with a juicer. Homemade juice is not pasteurized and thus has more proteins, carbohydrates and nutritional value versus store bought juice. High heat is used to pasteurize juices. This process destroys harmful bacteria, however, it also destroys vital proteins or enzymes, impacts the juice’s carbohydrates and thus its taste and flavor. Compare juicers to determine which is best for your tastes and needs. As the name implies, citrus juicers handle the basic fruits. Masticating juicers are best for handling a wide range of fruit, vegetable and greens. Centrifugal juicers are largely pulp free juicing machines. Any of these juicers will produce healthy, homemade, fresh 100% juice that does not need any Food and Drug Administration labels or disclosures.
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Published 8/17/2011 12:00:00 AM
Tags: Juicer Facts