How Much Real Fruit Juice is in Your Fruit Drink?
That’s the question that Knight Ridder News Service reporter Carolyn Poirot asked, and she found that so-called juice drinks were no more than “glorified soft drinks…devoid of juice and full of sugar†or high fructose corn syrup (HFCS), with no more nutritional value than a soda.
“Water and some form of sugar – sucrose, fructose, glucose or sorbitol – topped the ingredients list on every fruit drink we checked recently, including popular choices from Gatorade, V8, Minute Maid, CapriSun and Sunny Delight,†writes Poirot. But, don’t take our word for it; check out the labels for yourself.
How much juice is in these juice drinks?
Capri Sun: 10%
Gatorade: 0%
Hawaiian Punch: 5%
Hi-C: 10%
Ocean Spray Cocktail: 27% or less
Sunny Delight: 5%
Tropicana Twister: 3%
The added sugars in fruit drinks result in empty calories that contribute to obesity and malnourishment, as well as tooth decay. Recent studies show that fructose, such as HFCS, is metabolized by the body in such a way that it can raise triglyceride levels in the blood and set off a reaction that may actually cause our bodies to store more fat.
Parents should read labels, and when serving their kids a fruit juice beverage, make it a 100% juice. Even so, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics, juice servings should be limited to 4-6 oz per day for children ages 1-6 and 8-12 oz per day for children ages 7-18. Help keep your kids healthy!