The other day, she who must be obeyed/ignored ran out of orange juice and asked me to pick some up for her when I went out. This I did. Her usual brand was not available so, knowing her dislike for products with added sugar, I scanned the shelves for a suitable substitute. It truly is amazing how many products, not just OJ, there are that contain added sugar and salt. While in some cases I know I am stating the obvious and known here, the extent to which food manufacturers go to hide this are significant. When you do your research instead of doing what I did and grabbing the first 'No sugar added' item off the shelf, then the reality is quite startling.
Note that the choice of product used here is purely coincidental and it is not my intention to state that the one product in better or worse than others like it. My comments here are only my perception of the issue at hand in relation to how the consumer could be misled. From a preference perspective we choose the Don Simon brand or OJ and, as you can see from the ingredients and packaging of the other brand shown, this is certainly 'orange'.
So, what is the issue? First, these and other juice products were displayed in the particular supermarket on the 'Fruit Juices' shelf in the same way that wine is displayed on the 'Wine' shelf. This is the normal, accepted, and practical way that shops and supermarkets operate. Second, the latter (none Don Simon products) are not actually labeled as 'Orange Juice'. Third, the packaging and positioning on a shelf with fruit juices is very misleading.
For us, there is no competition with regard to the quality and taste of Don Simon orange juice when compared with other orange juices. It is simply the better product. "It does what is says on the tin" as the saying goes.
For those who are truly observant, the top picture shows two distinctive containers. The left one states 'with the juice of 15 oranges', 'from fresh picked oranges' and 'with pulp'. The list of ingredients shown in the picture above (dark blue background) simply reinforces that and clearly declares (in lots of languages) that it is not from concentrate.
The right hand container simply states "Orange" and it is uncertain whether it refers to the container itself (certainly very 'orange'), the content's colour (interesting is the best description I can come up with), or even if it is the brand name. In addition, there is the silhouette in red of someone running and 'only 26 calories per 100ml". On the front it clearly states in Spanish "No added sugar". However, looking at the description and ingredient list on the side there is some clarification in relation to what is inside. Described as "Orange Nectar". Yes, the colour is orange (sort of) but it is clearly not 'orange juice'.
1. Made from concentrate - in compliance with the law, it does not specify if the concentrate is 'concentrated orange',
2. No added sugars - see further down this list.
3. Contains sugars naturally present in the fruit - again, in compliance with the law, it does not specify which fruit.
4. Contains sweeteners - you bet it does (whoah is this sweet - for me, disgustingly so)
5. There is at least 50% 'fruit' - meaning that up to 50% is not and again, it does not state that this is just the fruit known as an orange.
6. There is an acidulant (citric acid) and an antioxidant (L-ascorbic acid)- these are necessary as preservatives, to prevent/limit natural fungal growth such as botulism (NB: the Don Simon does not contain this) and for preserving colour.
7. Sweeteners (Acesulfame K and Neohesperidine DC. The former (from Wikipedia) is "180-200 times sweeter than sucrose (table sugar), as sweet as aspartame, about half as sweet as saccharin, and one-quarter as sweet as sucralose." NHDC (from Wikipedia) is "a compound roughly 1500-1800 times sweeter than sugar at threshold concentrations; around 340 times sweeter than sugar weight-for-weight".
8. Oh, almost forgot, water.
Now the majority of these extra ingredients are widely used in products and approved for food use in various countries around the world. In the EU and the US both the Acesulfame has been approved for food use but note that there is certain criticism of the level of research performed re its safety:
"Acesulfame K has been shown to stimulate dose-dependent insulin secretion in rats, though no hyperglycemia was observed."
Neohesperdine DC has been approved in the EU but not in the US (hmmm.. maybe something to do with the success of aspartame) where it comes under a GRAS approval. In my mind that is "nothing has happened yet but it is such a useful cheap product let's see what happens...".
Aspartame - "Upon ingestion, aspartame breaks down into natural residual components, including aspartic acid, phenylalanine, methanol,[23] and further breakdown products including formaldehyde,[24] formic acid, and a DKP - Aspartylphenylalanine diketopiperazine.[25] High levels of the naturally-occurring essential amino acid phenylalanine are a health hazard to those born with phenylketonuria (PKU), a rare inherited disease that prevents phenylalanine from being properly metabolized. Since individuals with PKU must consider aspartame as an additional source of phenylalanine, foods containing aspartame sold in the United States must state "Phenylketonurics: Contains Phenylalanine" on their product labels."
Personally, I will stick with the Don Simon as it is definitely orange juice, looks like it, and tastes like it i.e., it is how it should be. The other brand and those like it? Unbelievably bad taste as far as I am concerned. Nothing like orange juice and the artificial sweetness is disgusting. Note I am not even going to say much regarding the sweeteners and the fact that these are used to give a 'mouth feel', retain colour, and improve flavour. Clearly, nectar or concentrate is required to meet a demand for off season juice consumption and to utilise excess orange production by converting it to a manageable and preserved product. Personally, I have concerns regarding the safety of the added chemicals.
When you think of the huge quantities of soda and 'pop' that are consumed it is worth bearing in mind the safety limits that govern the approval of several of the sweeteners are in single digits i.e., the safe concentration of any of these is in the 2-3% bracket. If you are consuming large quantities of liquid containing these then it is fairly easy to exceed the safe limits. 'Large quantities' is for you to determine. Again, I find the consumption of sweetened drinks to be somewhat ludicrous. It is part of the whole reason there are high levels of obesity and early onset diabetes in the US and the UK. Spain is not far behind...
My conclusion? The one on the right is certainly 'orange', the one on the left is definitely orange juice.
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