There’s nothing like making fresh raw vegetable or fruit juice at home with your own juicer. But let’s be honest, it takes time, energy and a commitment to keep up the routine at home. The availability and the variety of store-bought juice concoctions have absolutely exploded on the market and tempt us with convenience, fancy marketings and a bunch of healthy buzz words. Here’s the scoop on how tricky understanding juice labels can be at the grocery store and how to choose the best store bought juices for you and your family.
“100% Juice” Doesn’t Mean Anything
What does 100% juice really mean? Not much. Food companies are allowed to say 100% juice on the label even though their juice contains additional additives, flavorings or preservatives. In the case of V8, they add sodium (salt), flavoring, vitamin C and citric acid to preserve the juice for a longer shelf life. All of these added ingredients do nothing for your body and in some cases could harm you. This isn’t exactly a healthy dose of juice after considering the flavoring on the label could be made from petroleum that is often contaminated with carcinogens. Also, flavoring could have hidden MSG in it – which increases cravings and addiction (so food companies profit more). Companies that use flavoring won’t tell you exactly what’s in it either, they’ll say their formula is proprietary and keep you guessing.
“Concentrate” Is Just A Fancy Name for Syrup
Another way juice companies sabotage you, is by using shelf-stable juice concentrates instead of real juice. Juice concentrates are made from fruits and vegetables that are heated down to syrup and then have water added back in. The concentration process involves both adding in and subtracting chemicals and natural plant by-products in order to condense the juice. During the concentration process, fruits and vegetables lose flavor and this is one of the reasons why companies have to re-add “flavoring” to make the juice taste fresh.
The concentration allows juice companies to keep their juice shelf stable, preserved longer and allows them to save money during fruit processing. In other words, juice companies sell you an inferior product while making more money.
“Not From Concentrate” Could Be Flavored
What if the label explicitly states “not from concentrate.” Does that mean that the product has no added flavors? No. Actually, that’s a big fat no! When most commercially available orange juices are made, according to the book Squeezed: What You Don’t Know About Orange Juice, the juice is stored in giant tanks and the oxygen is removed from them, which allows the liquid to keep for up to a year without spoiling. This storage makes the orange juice lose mega flavor. So the industry uses “flavor packs” to re-flavor the juice. Even if your juice says “100% juice” or “premium” on the ingredient label, it can still have these flavor packs, because they are not required to be listed on the ingredient label because technically they are derived from orange essence or oil. Sneaky, huh? Ever wonder why store-bought juice can achieve that consistent “trademarked” taste, bottle after bottle? Now you know! (Please note: Uncle Matt’s is a brand that is 100% juice, not from concentrate that specifically does not use flavor packs.)
GMOs
Many juice companies use an ingredient called citric acid to extend the shelf life of their product. Most people would think this citric acid comes from, well, citrus like lemons, oranges and limes, but it doesn’t. The ingredients most food manufacturers use to create citric acid are genetically engineered corn and sugar beets, by synthetically fermenting the glucose from these crops in a laboratory.
Also, some juice companies go as far as adding sugar (that could be from GMO sugar beets), high fructose corn syrup (from GMO corn) and/or other ingredients that could contain GMOs. Tropicana, Ocean Spray and Minute Maid are huge offenders of this – so it’s no surprise they were some of the companies who gave millions of dollars recently in Washington to stop GMO labeling. They don’t want you to know their juices are full of GMOs.
Remember GMOs have never been tested long term on humans, and are linked to the rise in allergies, infertility and auto-immune disorders, not to mention they have increased the use of toxic pesticides in the environment by 500 million pounds.
It is absolutely critical we get GMO labeling in this country. We deserve the right to know what we are eating and the companies fighting against this basic fundamental right do not deserve our money.
Synthetic Ingredients
The sneakiest of ingredients that can show up in juice are in the form of synthetic ingredients that seem natural but are actually man-made and created in a laboratory.
Naked Juice (owned by Pepsi Co) was recently sued because they claimed their juices were 100% All Natural but really contain these synthetic ingredients:
- Fibersol-2 — a proprietary synthetic digestion-resistant fiber produced by Archer Daniels Midland and developed by a Japanese chemical company.
- Fructooligosaccharides — a synthetic fiber and sweetener.
- Inulin — an artificial and invisible fiber added to foods to artificially increase fiber content.
This example is just one of the reasons why it’s incredibly important to look at the ingredient list rather than the marketing lingo on the front of the label. (FYI – The Wall Street Journal just reported, Pepsi plans to drop the “All Natural” label on Naked Juice)
Also, make sure to watch out for other harmful ingredients like artificial food coloring. I was shocked to see that so many innocent looking juice brands use petroleum based dyes to color their juices, like Ocean Spray’s Red Ruby Grapefruit Juice.
Pasteurization
Here’s the real killer, no pun intended. Most juice companies use traditional pasteurization or flash pasteurization to destroy harmful bacteria, viruses, molds, and other microorganisms to safeguard our health by heating the juice (this would be the second time your juice is heated if you are drinking juice from concentrate). But during this process, pasteurization also kills raw enzymes, minerals and vitamins – the reason that we are drinking the juice in the first place. Heat kills the bad stuff and good stuff, making the juice pretty much worthless to consume.
Juice companies sometimes even replenish the lost vitamin content with synthetic vitamins because there is barely any nutrition left after processing. In the book Pandora’s Lunchbox, Melanie Warner questions what happens during processing and determined “like vitamins, phytochemicals are being destroyed or removed in manufacturing and therefore aren’t particularly abundant in processed juices. Adding them back in wouldn’t work from a biological point of view, meaning they don’t function effectively when isolated from their natural fruit and vegetable habitat.” Furthermore, most companies create vitamins by chemical manipulation and synthesis, not from actual fruits and vegetables.
Choosing The Best Juice
So you must be wondering, are there any store-bought juices that are nutritious to drink? I created this chart below to help you navigate the juice aisles more clearly and choose the best store-bought juice. Thankfully, there are lots of options for us!
Organic
It is absolutely critical that you choose organic juice first and foremost. The amount of pesticides that you could be consuming could be astronomical otherwise. We know that increased exposure to pesticides is linked to birth defects, nerve damage and cancer. The President’s Cancer Panel has urged us not to consume food sprayed with pesticides and doesn’t believe any amount is safe.
Raw
In an ideal world, you would always be able to consume a juice raw straight out of a juicer. Enzymes, vitamins and minerals start to degrade over time, so timing is important. If your juice is fresh, it’s important to drink it as soon as possible.
Cold-Pressed
Cold-pressing is the most nutritious way to obtain juice. First, the produce is ground into a fine pulp. Then a press applies thousands of pounds of pressure to the pulp extracting every ounce of juice that the fruit or vegetable has to give. This process gets all the vital nutrients from the pulp into the juice. Cold-Pressed juices have a longer shelf life than centrifuge or slow juicers. Juice Press, Organic Avenue, and Luna’s Living Kitchen (One of my favorite restaurants in Charlotte!) all have raw organic cold-pressed juice available for purchase in their stores. Health food stores like Whole Foods sometimes makes their cold press juices in advance or carries brands like Suja, that are found in the refrigerator section.
HPP
The next best thing to raw in-store cold pressed juice is HPP or High Pressure Processing. This method retains food quality, maintains freshness, and extends microbiological shelf life without the addition of heat. After juices are bottled, a high level of cool pressure is applied evenly to destroy any pathogens and ensure the juice is safe to drink while preserving all of the vitamins, enzymes and nutrients. Grocery stores like Whole Foods likes selling HPP juices because they safeguard the consumer from foodborne illnesses more effectively than raw juices. Suja is a popular organic juice brand that uses HPP, but also cold-presses their juice (and gave money in support of GMO labeling – yeah!). Their Twelve Essentials is one of my favorites. They also recently developed a line called “Suja Elements” that is more like a smoothie. It’s the type of product you’d choose over Naked Juice, Odwalla, or Bolthouse Farms Smoothies – since all of those are traditionally pasteurized with heat and can contain additives. See this smoothie comparison chart below for details:
Finding Organic Pressed Juice Near You
My friend Max Goldberg created the world’s first Pressed Juice Directory, where you can find organic juice wherever you are. He created this directory because he (like me) tries to eat 100% organic whenever possible and wanted the ability to find quality juice on the road while he traveled. I can’t thank him enough for this amazing tool! It makes finding organic juice and traveling so much easier.
If you have any questions about choosing the best store-bought juice, let me know in the comments below.
Also, if you know someone in your life that is still drinking a juice that’s on the “worst” side of the chart above, please share this post with them. Spreading awareness about how our food is produced and which companies we should support will change the marketplace!
I’ve seen this with my own eyes 🙂
Food Babe
BluePrintCleanse’s juice should be on your green list too — love their Green Juice!
Lucy – I like them too, but they are facing a lawsuit right now due to some labeling issues. Check it out – http://www.bevnet.com/news/2013/lawsuit-claims-blueprint-juices-are-neither-raw-nor-unpasteurized
Thank you…so good to know someone is lifting the rug to see what’s under!
Reading that link, it looks like this lawsuit might affect all the HPP juicers, including the “little guys.” Hopefully BluePrint will show that the HPP process doesn’t limit the good stuff in the juice. It will be interesting to see the outcome of this.
Oh Bummer! And I thought Bolthouse Farms & Honest Kids were ‘ok’. I’ve never looked or purchased Honest Kids but definitely have purchased Bolthouse Farms juices.
I have 4 children to feed and they like juice in their lunches. I am at a loss as to how to shop for what my children want to eat and what they should be fed. If I don’t buy it they will rebel. Buying food for children is very tough. I need tips for buying family food that everyone will eat.
Try squeezing fresh juice mixed with water in a thermos. Always cut the juice with water – I didn’t cover it in this post, but the amount of fructose or sugar in some products is astronomical and should not be consumed in one sitting.
thank you…I will try this.
Hi Food Babe~
I’m interested in purchasing a Soda Stream machine to make sparkling water to mix with my fresh squeezed juice so that I have a little bubble, but I have read that the bubbles from carbonation are not good for us.
Is this correct? Can you help me understand why and would that include bubbles from a Soda Stream machine?
Thanks so much,
Kim
A mom who is new to learning about nutrition and how to eat better, not just fill our bellies. 🙂
WE kicked the juice box habit to the curb. My kids, 6 & 5, just do water bottles with water. The bottles are Hydro Flask so the liquids stay the temperature of when you first put them in the bottle. So ice stays ice for up to 12 hours! Kids ask for juice boxes every now and then and I just say no and they move on…you are right, kids are trickier….;)
Keep up the good work! That’s awesome.
Wow, kids ‘rebel’?! Who’s the Mom??
Try checking out 100 days of real food on Facebook. This family has kids and parking lunches for them and making sure they understand what its all about it their main focus.
Hi Food Babe!
My family ( hubby, me and twin 3 yr olds) have officially started switching our lifestyle to organic!! We live in a very small town(1 *yucky* Walmart and 1 HEB) and the options are not very good, so when I found the Honest Juice I was SO EXCITED, but it is in the colum closest to the worst juice!!! Help?!?! Is it really bad?
Thank you for all you do! It helps beginners like me so much.
I give my son honest kids juice too….it’s sad that even though its organic it still is filled with GMO’s …I won’t be giving it to him anymore though.
Hi Food babe? How can a product that is labeled and named organic use gmo’s (honest kids and Santa Cruz)???? I thought that is illegal?? Please clarify? I am aware that products labeled “natural” ,” healthy” and other marketing like terms are used to sway customers not fully informed, but I thought USDA organic means no gmos??????? Thanks for your help, love the site!
You are doing the best you can in a small town. At least you are not using the cans from the shelf like V8 and fruit juices. You can just give them water and another special food in the lunchbox. Save the fruit juice for a fun project on the weekend or school holiday: squeeze the orange and see the juice come out!
Wonderful Vani! Thanks for the info. You rock and please don’t stop rocking that boat.
Tim
I had blood work done where I needed to fast. The company had “healthy” choices available for afterwards and they recommended I have a snack. There were many juice blends with less then 10% juice or a can of V8. I chose the V8 . I almost spit it out. The sodium content is astronomical. I ended up taking it home and pouring the rest away.
I am confused about what type of juicer is the best. The only juicer we have is over 30 years old and is certainly not the best. We do not juice veggies much at all because of this. We make smoothies instead. I would like to make green juice and do not know what kind of juicer to buy. You say in this article that slow juicers are not the best. What is the best economical juicer? Thanks!
I have this question too. Are Cold Press juicers available for home use? I was considering a slow press but rethinking that choice now. Will be waiting for the time being.
Yvonne, I totally hear ya! We want to make the best decisions for our health and for our family, and as reasonably priced as possible. I’ve read over and over that the Norwalk juicer (which costs a small fortune – a few thousand) is the best out there because it uses the press method to juice. Unfortunately, the cost just isn’t feasible for most people. I’ve also heard very good things about the Angel, but again, quite pricey. I personally settled on the Omega 8006, which has fantastic reviews. I’ve used it for a few months now and I really like it. I paid $250 -not cheap, but certainly not the most expensive either. My advice is to simply do the best that you can with what you have – in the end, juicing fresh juice with “a juicer”, even if it isn’t “the best” is better than no fresh juicing at all.
A Vita-Mix is fantastic! One of the problems with juicers is you loose much of the fiber, and it can take a lot of time to prep & you don’t get a whole lot of juice – with the Vita-Mix – you can use many of the WHOLE FOOD, getting all the nutrients from the skin (where a majority of them are.) There are Vita-mix outlets, Costco often sells them (they have an incredible $ back guarantee) and Vita-Mix comes with a 7 year warranty. No, I’m not a rep for them, I just really, really like & appreciate mine!
Here’s my top picks for juicers: https://foodbabe.com/2011/10/23/day-2-all-about-juicers-recap/
What about coconut juices?
Harmless Harvest 100% Raw HPP and I always pray I get a pink one… the best coconut water if not straight from the coconut Anna 🙂
Ugh! I am so frustrated! We went on vacation, so I bought my little girls some juice boxes (apple and eve),thinking it was healthy after reading the ingredients, but after reading this; they clearly were not. I guess it’s time to invest in my own juicer.
Thanks for your deep investigations. It’s easy to fall for the presumed healthiness of manufactured food. I wish we could all go back to growing our own. We grow most of ours but we still have to go shopping.
I used to drink V8 as well…until I really paid attention to the ingredients…and the sodium! Yikes! Thanks for the info…so helpful!
Love this investigation! I had NO IDEA that citric acid was made from sugar/corn. I naively assumed it was made from citrus fruit. We don’t drink very much store-bought juice in my house. Usually only if we juice our own!
I’m pregnant- which means bye bye to pasteurized anything and my beloved juicing! Recommendations pretty please?
Hi Rachel –
Idk if I’m allow to say this or not, but since no one’s replied – you can be confident & assured safe with this whole-food, clean, scientifically proven & safe for pregnancy: http://www.crudow.juiceplus.com, been around for 20 years, 31 peer-reviewed published studies, better than organic (yes, there is such a thing!:-)
I’m pregnant which means bye bye to a nothing UN pasteurized and my beloved juicing! Recommendations?
Just a warning: if you are pregnant, you should not consume unpasteurized juices, milk, etc. Pasteurization makes liquids that are susceptible to harmful bacteria (E. coli, etc.) safe to consume. These bacteria will cause food poisoning in adults, and while an adult with a functional immune system will get over it in a few days, they are much more likely to cause miscarriages (as well as harm to newborns/babies, senior citizens, or the immunocompromised).
The degradation of some aspects of nutrition in the food are possible, but that can be fixed with a good multivitamin or balanced diet, as opposed to the much greater risk of becoming infected with foodborne illness as a result of consuming unpasteurized drinks.
Hi Vani!
I have a questions for you-
I am not ready to purchase a juicer for myself yet. I dont know if juicing is something that is right for me. I am considering purchasing Suja’s 3 day cleanse after the holiday season. It is around $165, do you think this is worth the price? If I do like the results of the cleanse I may consider purchasing a juicer.
I understand that you think juicing may not be for you, but you could actually spend the money you’re planning on spending on your juice cleanse and buy a juicer instead. If juicing is not for you – you could always sell your juicer!! People are always looking to buy juicers!! Just a thought!
Hi Food Babe! Love all that you do! Great work! But I am wondering the same about Honest Kids and Honest products, if their organic they should be free of gmos and other bad stuff, why are they closest to the worst side? Please help me understand better. Thank you 🙂
Hi Food Babe,
Thanks for this post, very helpful. What about Sambazon juice? I rarely drink juice but if I do I really like their acai berry juice.
Thanks!
The best coconut juice on the market is called harmless harvest… 100% raw hpp yumminess.
Yes! I love it too – read my review here: https://foodbabe.com/2012/06/07/choosing-your-coconut-water-harmlessly-a-fashionable-giveaway/
Ugh…Vani I am sad I didn’t see this post before I so could have won. Lol we order this yumminess by the case at our cooperative.
Oh Vani I am sad I didn’t see that post…I so could have won. Lol we buy it by the case at our local coop.
Sorry I posted that twice I didn’t think it went through the first time… 🙂
I love this brand! It’s so delicious!
Thanks Madeline, Once you try this way of bottling you can never go back… 🙂
I always hope I get a pink one!!! lol
Don’t be too harsh. When the wife and I began juicing, she said she didn’t know which vegetables we could use. I said if we had any cans of V-8 left, just see what’s in the can. We’ve been juicing for almost two years and we’ve never been healthier. But that can of V-8 DID help us get off in the right direction.
You can pretty much guess that if it’s processed, you probably shouldn’t have it.
This is a great post to see. I’ve been trying to only make raw drinks.
I just did a post on gluten. I was wondering if you could let others know about the dangers on gluten. I posted about a free webinar and hope you will join in.
http://alapinlife.blogspot.com/2013/11/gluten-free.html
Dee
I thought Jeffrey Smith said that organics were GMO free? Is this not true?
I saw you on cnn the other day . I don’t think you’ll be invited back ,you speaking your mind and all ! Advertising bigwigs don’t care about health just the bottom line ….. I thought you were great . you do have a wonderful spirit . I’ll be thinking good thoughts
Don’t worry – They have already invited me back 🙂 Just wait till next time!
Thank-you…..great analysis. I am concerned about the plastic bottles. Some of the organic juices are in plastic. WHY? Especially high acidic orange juice……aren’t we drinking a lot of plastic?
Hi thanks for all of your hard work. What about Bai. Drinks?
Hi Food Babe,
I am always concern about what is good to drink for son. My son 9 years old is a 2 x Liver Transplant and Aplastic Anemia and is VERY picky about what he drinks Currently he drinks plenty of G2 and Tea and SOME water, soda 7up only as a treat. He also suffered from Reno Failure he must be very hydrated any suggestions. I really need help. (limited income, now I am a stay at home mom for him)
I love it thank you, I will be making changes today
I recently found your site and Im learning so much. Im expecting in a week and just read ur article about formula and organic and im blown away with all the junk that is put in that stuff. Poor babies and parents who need to research this stuff.
Thanks for the info – great post!
My favorite juice is SUJA. I do a 1-3 day cleanse once a month and was drinking one or two a day. I was afraid of all the sugar so I have cut back to an occasional cleanse and I drink a day. What do you think about the sugar? I was told that sugar is sugar.
I like the juices that are mainly vegetables with little to no fruit 🙂
What about Evolution Fresh? They claim to peel and squeeze the fruit and use cold pressure to preserve it.
Love the posts and information! What about V-8 fusion? Any better than normal V-8?
You ever heard of columbia gorge organic juices…. ?? If yes, what do u think ?? 🙂
No wonder Citric Acid is causing so much problems. I didn’t realize it was GMO too.
Ok, now I’m totally confused about the Honest kids! The package said NO GMO’s!
I do realize that Santa Cruz is owned by Smuckers and they donated big money to block labeling..but I don’t see how the Santa Cruz organic juices could contain GMO ingredients ..?? all of the ingredients listed are organic. Granted they are from concentrates but if the juices are organic, isn’t that the most important thing?
They do not have GMOs… however, like you said, their parent company gave big bucks to stop GMO labeling and I’m not ok with that.
Organic rules state that a tiny percent of the product can be non-organic. So let’s put a little GMO stuff in it.
Is it just me or did anyone else catch that the President’s Cancer Panel says go organic so you don’t consume pesticides. Wow, is this the same president that appointed multiple Monsanto executives to run the FDA and to draft the TPP that will give them control of the global food supply?
Are those Evolution juices okay?
LOVE your work!
I am finding the text in the graphic boxes hard to read due to fuzzy distortion….:-(
Welch’s grape juice is dark purple, but the fruit of grapes is pretty clear. Where does the purple come from?
Also, I find most organic products I buy, other than fruit, are packaged in plastic. Is this a harmful practice?
I thought Apples and Eve was okay 🙁 (they are on the list that are against not GMO labeling) Dying here….researching hours a day and still feeling so helpless! I just don’t have time to make kids juice too! i know honest kids is owned by coca-cola so no go, but sheesh! My kids are generally on board with healthy eating but still want juice boxes and stuff other kids have sometimes too. Food shouldn’t be so complicated!!!!! (end rant)
See the Natural Flavors in Naked Juice? Those are synthetic made from petroleum distillates.. I am highly sensitive to petroleum products and can smell them a mile away! Gasoline is less obnoxious to me, at least it is not trying to be something else. I know I will encounter it at the gas station.
“Furthermore, most companies create vitamins by chemical manipulation and synthesis, not from actual fruits and vegetables.”… I wanted to just comment that many supplements & vitamins on the market also do this as well.
Thank you for all your hard work. Sharing this with my friends!!!
Please keep up the good work.
God bless
I live in Northwestern Ontario, Canada (meaning I am actually nowhere near Toronto, I am much closer to Manitoba than I am to Toronto or even any of the Great Lakes) so there is a lack of options for health foods, and the options you have are expensive. I have discovered a brand called “Happy Planet” that I enjoy and appears quite healthy to me, however I am just wondering if anyone else knows anything about this brand? So far I find it to be the best out of all the choices I have in a store, but this was not mentioned in the article at all (but possibly it is a Canadian brand and not sold in the USA).
In my googlings it appears to be a Canadian company actually… I should research before commenting lol
Hey Kyra,
I have found several more companies to add to your list of resources for organic, foods , powders, etc. that have proven to be reliable and cost effective.
Please check out znaturalfoods.com and tropicaltraditions.com The latter is a great source for coconut flake from which you can make your own coconut milk, and the former carries a wide variety of powders and teas. I found these sites through a blogger Doowans, that is also trying to live and eat “clean”. Just a suggestion, I have no ties to any of these entities. Thanks…
Kyra,
Please look up these two sites. Znaturalfoods. com and tropicaltraditions.com. The later offers organic coconut flakes for making coconut milk, the former has a vast selection of powders and teas. Good Luck!
Read, The Squeeze That Kills.. Juice at home, no telling if any you do not watch juice made fresh is anything but garbage. Loblaws spending billiions to convince consumers that frozen veg is better than fresh. These mammoths have no interest in honestly supporting health.
peace, be well
What about martinelli’s apple juice that is organic?
Another thing with store bought juice, most apples and other fruits have bruised parts on them which shouldn’t be eaten and I wonder if the companies bother to cut these off before juicing, I doubt it. And how well are the fruits/vegetable washed before juicing? A certain % of mould is also allowed in juices, it may be a problem if you are very mould sensitive.
THANK YOU !!!
Thanks for this post and the eye opener on some the juices I fell victim to thinking they were healthy!
My biggest worry is that there are basically 5 large companies that pad the pockets of those who make the rules. They now allow more pesticides etc on our foods and still call it organic. The big companies could not make as much money with strict guide lines. It is all about the money. Isn’t it?? :((