Advertising/marketing

[kengr]

I got a 1.75 liter container of Pomegranate Blueberry from the food box this month.

I've been somewhat amused by the labeling.

Largest type is the brand name (call it "Moon Stupid"). Then it says Natural. Then Pomegranate Blueberry. then in much smaller type "Fruit Juice Beverage".

Below those it says:
naturally sweetened
preservative free
gluten free

Ho-kay... let's check those out. Gluten free is a gimmee.

The others get rather more interesting.

"Natural". In this case that means that no "artificial" things are part of the beverage.

Looking at the ingredients list... remember, they list in order of how much is in the item

Water.
Okay, not unexpected, but explains why they call it a "fruit juice beverage" rather than "fruit juice"

Sugar
That's the "naturally sweetened" which in this case means "we didn't use 'artificial' sweeteners"

concentrated pear juice
Say what? I like pear juice, but they don't mention it anywhere else.

Concentrated apple juice.
See above.

concentrated pomegranate juice
finally, an ingredient you'd expect from the label

Concentrated blueberry juice
ditto.

citric acid
Okay *this* is a ringer. That citric acid is most definitely there as a preservative. They just don't have to call it that legally. But it's still really sketchy.

So, we see how marketing triumphs over facts.

Comments

[xander-opal.livejournal.com]

Marketing is why people are convinced to pay too much for food grown with inefficient practices.

The average person needs to be better-educated on these things.

[fayanora.livejournal.com]

Citric acid is also good for you, so the fact it's a preservative is just icing on the cake.

As to pear/apple juice: those are common fruit juice additives, and just as commonly are not mentioned.

[kengr]

Ah, but they aren't "additives" in this stuff. Because they make up the majority of what's in it!

[fayanora.livejournal.com]

What really bugs me is this one brand of bottled iced tea I sometimes get that has citric acid in it. Like, what do you need a preservative in unsweetened iced tea for? The citric acid just makes it taste odd. But it's a good brand to find when I want something to drink that isn't full of sugar.