Morning Reading

So, I’m enjoying my cereal yesterday and idly reading the label on my bottle of juice when I notice the “fine print” at the bottom of the label: “Cranberry-Pomegranate juice drink blended with another juice from concentrate” Huh?  I checked the ingredient list and sure enough, the first ingredient after water and sugar, is grape juice from concentrate.

Okay, if we go back to the top of the label, it says “contains 15% fruit juice”. Now I’m no math genius, but 15% of 10 oz. is only 1.5 oz. So by labeling standards, grape juice is the primary ingredient in my “Cran-Pomegranate” juice drink which is for the most part water anyway, since that is the first ingredient. And since pomegranate juice is the fifth ingredient they must have added it with an eye dropper!

Also interesting that the label says “No High Fructose Corn Syrup, Artificial Colors or Flavors”. Ocean Spray has jumped on the sugar band wagon along with Snapple, Pepsi, Pinnacle Foods, Kraft, Starbucks and others in an effort to reassure customers who are afraid of the consequences of consuming high fructose corn syrup. While the demonization of corn syrup is viewed by some as a necessary step toward better health, there is still serious debate about whether any sugar is really better for us.  And aside from the argument about what kind of sugar it is, my ten ounces of “juice” contains 38g of sugar. That’s more than my favorite soda.

Not to worry-  my morning drink contains 100% of my daily requirement of vitamin C! Of course that can’t be from the splash of juice it contains, so the last ingredient on the list is Ascorbic Acid (Vitamin C). BTW, if what I read on the internet is correct, 80% of the world’s ascorbic acid is made in China.

I like the taste of Cranberry juice and anything it is blended with or added to, including club soda. So…I will probably keep drinking Cran-Pomegranate juice even though I know now that it is really Grape-Cran-Pomegranate juice. I don’t have any bad feelings about Ocean Spray or their products. But I think I will read a few other labels when I go to the grocery store. Perhaps I can find a juice that has just a few more cranberries or less sugar. That’s a step toward better health, isn’t it?

Once again I haven’t solved any world problems this morning, but perhaps I made you think a little and now you are going to go read the label on your favorite morning drink and see how it compares to mine. Have a great day!

Comments

[Marilyn]

I have to read every food label since I can't eat anything with grains, soy, sugar, dairy and the list goes on. No grains include no corn and rice or anything with a form of them in it. The only sweet I can have is honey--and of course fresh fruit. I eat SCD--you can google it. It is hard but if your life depends on it, it can be done. I think we should all read those labels. Some are very misleading.

[Megan]

Aren't labels educational? I discovered that "juice" thing a few years ago when Tyler was a toddler. What a joke! Having been in marketing, I apologize on behalf of every marketer in the world.

I wonder what's in the water we drink every day. No, I'm sure I'd rather not know.