Until recently, in the minds of consumers, the concepts of juice, nectar and drink merged into one product. After all, juice is juice, someone would say. Meanwhile, there are fundamental differences between juice, nectar and a drink. After Poland joined the European Union, they are governed by strictly defined regulations that provide guidelines for each of them.
This is especially important nowadays, because there are many entrepreneurs who mislead consumers with catchy slogans that simply mislead buyers. Weak vigilance may lead us to acquire something that is not of very high value. To protect yourself from this, always read the information on the packaging.
The concentrate is not as bad as it is painted
The overwhelming majority of products made of fruit or vegetables are mistakenly called juice. Meanwhile, only a small part of them deserves this term. So what should characterize it?
First of all, the right content of fruit or vegetables. It is best pressed directly. However, the concentrate is not as bad as people used to think of it. The juice from the concentrate retains its properties and is obtained by restoring the proportion of water and aroma removed in the thickening process. This treatment is used primarily to obtain juice from seasonal fruits and vegetables or when it is made from exotic plants grown far away from the place of production of the product.
Fruit juice may contain small amounts of sugar (vegetable juices may contain salt), but a rather natural sweetness is used today. However, they cannot contain artificial colors, flavors or any preservatives.
Most of them are unfortunately pasteurized, which means they lose some of their vitamins and nutrients.
Nectar – an almost perfect drink of the gods
According to EU directives, it must contain from 25% to 100% of fruit or vegetable input.
When deciding on the choice of nectar, it is worth paying attention that it does not contain too much sugar. For this product, the standard is 15 to 150 grams per liter of product. Ideally, the sweeteners content should be closer to the lower limit.
Drink – kick your soul, there’s no hell!
This is roughly how drink norms can be defined. There are really no limits here. This is the least valuable product as it is more water with juice with a maximum fruit and vegetable content of 30%.
What’s more, you can add sugar to it, as well as flavors, dyes and even preservatives. It can also be chemically fixed to keep it fit for longer periods of time. Due to the large amount of artificial additives, it is best to avoid drinks in your diet.
Labels must always be read
As producers are obliged by law to comply with certain rules, all information about the product should be found on the packaging. The more there are, the greater the chance that we are dealing with a reliable and credible brand. What’s more, in the era of mass food production, it is better to choose the products of small enterprises instead of giant corporations.
