Confusing Juice Labels Save Email Print
Reporter: Rachel Pierce
Email Address: rachel.pierce@wowt.com

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Camy Sleeman's kids LOVE juice. But when Camy buys juice at the store, she almost has to be a detective to figure out if she's really getting real juice.

"I think you really have to do your homework in terms of reading the labels and seeing what is within each bottle of juice you buy." said Sleeman

Juice sports all sorts of labels these days: "Light juice," "juice beverages," and "juice cocktail," just to name a few. Letters from Consumer Reports readers prompted Jaime Hirsh to take a closer look.

"One reader wrote, 'Boy was I duped.' She bought what she thought was real juice and it actually contained no juice at all!" said Consumer Reports' Jamie Hirsh

Two labels to look for so you don't get duped: "100% juice" or "100% pure."

"These mean that you're getting pure juice. But you still want to read the label. Often juices are actually a blend" said Hirsh. "And a lot of times you'll see that apple or grape juice is actually the first ingredient, so you could end up getting more of these juices than the featured juice that you actually want."

If you see juice "cocktail," "beverage," or "drink," that's a red flag, because these are less than 100% juice.

"These drinks can contain as little as 5% juice. Water and sweeteners like high fructose corn syrup often make up the rest" said Hirsh.

And what exactly is "light" juice?

"Some big juice companies, including Tropicana, Welch's and Ocean Spray, have come out with 'light' versions of their juices, which they tout as having less sugar and fewer calories. These are often regular juice diluted with water." said Hirsh

That's something you can do yourself, and save money too, with 100% real juice you've bought.

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