Read on Twitter
Ok, #LesFoodFacts thread time. Another requested topic. This time let's talk about juice and what you may think is "juice" as well as cordials and concentrates.
Juice. You'd think it would be easy to define, right? But it's not that straight forward. There are legal categories. I'll explain them shortly because they're important, especially when buying what you think is juice. #LesFoodFacts
We have what is called "fruit drinks". These are drinks that contain a minimum of 6% real fruit juice in them. They can't legally be called juice but by having that 6% they can use an image of a fruit on the carton as well as the words "fruit drink" #LesFoodFacts
Then you have drinks described as being "fruit nectar". These have to have a minimum of 12,5% pure fruit juice but some nectars, like orange nectar, have to have a least 50% pure orange juice in them #LesFoodFacts
Then finally there's 'pure fruit juice'. There's unsweetened and sweetened pure fruit juice. Unsweetened would be your lemon juices, some orange juices...actually most citrus juices would tend to be unsweetened. They are sweetened with other juices. #LesFoodFacts
Now comes the funny part. Just because a juice box says "100% fruit juice" it doesn't necessarily mean the juice is made up of one type of fruit juice. For example, a mango juice could very well be made up of a whole lot of apple juice. Read the label #LesFoodFacts
One other problem with pure fruit juice is that it goes off very quickly. If you've been into juicing I'm sure you've noticed how your home made juice doesn't last that long? To get over this issue some fruit juice is concentrated after it is squeezed. 80% of its water is removed
Some manufacturers also add artificial preservatives to it to make it last longer. The concentrate is then transported to juice makers. They add water to it and thus you get "reconstituted juice". It's also why when you read juice labels it will sometimes say "concentrate"
The process of hydrating the juice concentrate results in a juice that doesn't taste quite as good as the original. So other juices, particularly grape and apple juice, are added to make the reconstituted juices taste better #LesFoodFacts
This is also why some manufacturers cleverly have fruit blends. #LesFoodFacts
If you think back, remember you could buy concentrated fruit juice in frozen cans? Made by Minute Maid? That's the same stuff in some hotels and fast food places. It is diluted and then processed at the hotel/restaurant etc and sold as juice. Hence some hotel juice being so sweet
Ok, onto cordials. What are they? Basically concentrated fruit and sugar syrup. It's an old technique invented way back in the day to make sure fruit juice lasted longer. Fruits are cooked off in a simple syrup and then mashed and strained. That's the true way of making a cordial
Sugar is a preservative (hence jam, marmalade, preserves, dried fruit etc) and by cooking off the fruit in simple syrup the syrup concentrates the intensity of the fruit and you'd just need to ass some water to it later.
Now read the label on your store bought cordial.
Now read the label on your store bought cordial.
Onto the nutritional aspect of juice. It is recommended that an adult only consume one teacup of pure juice a day. The amount of sugar in juice is equivalent to the amount of sugar in soft drinks. If you do like juice it's better to have juice that has pulp in it.
It's also better to make your own juice at home coz you know there won't be any additives added and you can stir in some of the leftover pulp. It's actually better to just make a smoothie really. Add fresh fruit and veg and fibre to it. This lowers the GI in it and keeps you full
One teacup of fruit juice is the same as eating 3 handful size fruits. Its the same sugar and nutrient intake. The catch is that you've removed the brakes by removing all the fibre and so it spikes your insulin. It's why diabetics are told to avoid juice. #LesFoodFacts
Remember an insulin spike means you're going to be hungry more quickly (high GI vs Low GI). So drinking a lot of juice isn't actually healthy for you, besides the sugar intake. #LesFoodFacts
Also juices aren't all equal. For example the cranberry juice we have in SA isn't true cranberry juice. Cranberry juice is thick AF, almost like mango juice. I discovered this whilst travelling overseas. I thought I had been offered a tomato juice but it was proper cranberry
Anyway, that's the simplified thread on juice.
Fin.
Fin.
