The Fruit Imposters Report by Jacky Bernett, Bsc. RD

LONDON, August 31 /PRNewswire/ --     For the past six weeks, parents have been able to keep a
watchful eye over what they are feeding their children at mealtimes. However,
with the back-to-school season fast approaching, most parents will once again
face the constant dilemma of choosing which healthy, exciting, tasty and
nutritious products they should give their children. Parents face the
difficult choice of what to buy for their children as packaging can be
misleading.

This report focuses on a selection of popular fruit juice
drinks and fruit based desserts which can be found in a typical child's
lunchbox.

FRUIT JUICE DRINKS

Fruit Juice Content

The majority of children do not drink enough throughout the
day and may only have access to beverages at lunch time or water fountains
which provide only mouthfuls of water. Many children prefer the taste of
fruit juice to water and with 5-a-day front of mind, a fruit juice drink is a
good way to help children reach their daily target whilst providing
refreshment benefits at the same time in a way they will actually drink it
rather than leave in their lunch box. However, do parents understand that not
all fruit juice drinks are quite as they appear? Do they understand that the
fruit juice content present in many children's fruit juice drinks account for
just a fraction of the ingredients listed on the packaging?

Parents need to be aware that although packaging for many of
the popular children's fruit juice drinks on the market may display
mouth-watering fruit images or have a fruit related name, they are in fact
not as 'fruity' as they appear. They should read the small print labelled
"ingredients" on the back of the carton.

Many of the brands on the supermarket shelf have a low fruit
juice content and offer a low amount of naturally occurring vitamins (perhaps
this is why many manufacturers have added vitamins to the drinks to make them
appear more attractive and healthy).

A fruit juice drink which states eg 70% natural fruit juice
will have more natural goodness than a juice drink with 6-20%. Fruit juice
can be a good source of natural vitamin C and natural is always good. A fruit
juice drink with a high percentage juice is less likely to have other
products added. It can be misleading to parents as maybe when they see added
vitamins they think this is good not being aware that natural fruit juice has
it in anyway and does not need to be added.

Additives

The fruit juice drinks analysed in the report indicates that
some contain a range of additives that have been used to artificially improve
the recipe and taste of the drink. Additives used include Citric Acid,
Aspartame, Anthocyanins, potassium sorbate and Dimethyl Dicarbonate.

In addition, many of the fruit juice drinks that contain low
levels of fruit juice are formulated with added sugar or artificial
sweeteners. These can be displayed in a number of ways with different names
e.g. sucrose, glucose, fructose, fructose syrup, However, if you refer to the
nutritional information on the pack, this can be misleading and confusing as
the reference to "carbohydrate of which is sugar" does not differentiate
between natural or added sugar. It is therefore advisable to always reference
the ingredients list on the pack instead. It is worth highlighting that added
sugar is just calories and therefore doesn't have any nutritional benefits.
If the products were 'true' fruit juice drinks, it wouldn't be necessary to
add sugar or artificial sweeteners to the drinks because fruit contains
naturally occurring sugars and therefore has other nutritional benefits e.g.
vitamins.

Looking at the labels; a fruit juice drink for example that
contains a high amount of natural fruit juice; 70-73% with 27-30% added water
will not have any added sugar.

In summary, it is more preferable for parents to choose a
fruit juice drink containing a high percentage of fruit juice content with
added water and the least amount of additives as opposed to a drink with low
fruit juice content combined with added sugar, artificial sweeteners and
vitamins.

FRUIT JUICE BASED DESSERTS

Parents are also able to help their child reach their '5 a
day' target through fruit or fruit juice based desserts that are especially
designed for children's lunchboxes. Many children dislike eating fruit, so
products such as jellies made from fruit juice with "no bits" are a useful
way of helping parents ensure that children are getting fruit as part of
their diet.

There are brands on the market that have a jelly product
featuring fruit juice; however parents need to understand these aren't always
the most nutritious options and again they will need to check the labelling
for any additives. Traditionally, jelly has been made from sugar, water,
gelling agents, colours, flavours and preservatives with just a hint of
fruit. There are now brands available which contain a high fruit juice
content. There is a Raspberry Jelly that has a 98.5% fruit juice content and
a Blackcurrant Jelly that has a 98% fruit juice content versus others on the
market with only 1%. It is therefore advisable for parents to look out for
jelly brands that contain high fruit juice content as this will also help to
go towards children's '5-a-day'.

CONCLUSION

Through analysing the labelling of many fruit juice drink
brands and fruit-based jelly desserts, it is clear that many can be
misleading and confusing for parents.

This highlights that there is a need to communicate to parents
the importance of searching for the fruit juice content on labelling for both
fruit juice drinks and fruit jellies and understanding what you are reading.
Looking at the front of cartons and "flashes" on cartons can be misleading.
It is a parent's right to have the choice of knowingly purchasing the best
fruit-based product on the market that they are putting into their trolley
and consequently what they are giving their child is nutritionally sound.