American Fitness Professionals & Associates

by Susan O. Henry

Seven-year-old Julie drank six ounces of reconstituted frozen grape juice at breakfast, a 6.75-ounce box of Capri Sun All Natural at lunch, and a 5.3-ounce can of apple juice after school. How much fruit nutrition did Julie have?

Three, say Julie parents, pleased that it’s so easy to take care of three of a child’s required five fruits and veggies a day.

Two and maybe a little more, says the Dole Foods Company Nutrition Center (http://www.dole5aday.com/eatfive.html): “3/4 cup of 100% fruit juice = 1 serving.” Capri Sun is only 10 percent juice, so most of whatever is all-natural is natural something-else.

None at all, according to the labels on the juices Julie drank. If you go by the definition of “junk food” — calories-only with less than 2 percent of MDR of any nutritional value — then a lot of fruit juices are junk food, says Ruth M. Patrick, chief of the nutrition education program at Pennington Biomedical Research Center, Baton Rouge. “Some of them are little more than sugar water,” says Dr. Patrick.

Julie’s house-brand apple juice contains 120 calories per serving and the label claims no food values whatever. Capri Sun delivers 100 calories per 6.75 oz. and, despite its “10% Fruit Juice” content, no nutritional value. Julie’s grape juice, like many frozen juices and punches, also carries calories without vitamins, minerals, or fiber.

Name, Rank, and Number

The actual nutrition in fruit juices varies by kind, and among brands. Some apple juices, for instance, claim no vitamin or mineral content at all. Tree Top, on the other hand, provides 120 percent of an adult’s daily recommended allowances (RDA) of vitamin C and 2 percent of iron. A fresh, unprocessed apple, by comparison, contains only 5 percent of vitamin C but also 5 percent of potassium and 4 grams of fiber, plus pectin and enzymes which, researchers have recently discovered, strengthen the human immune system. 

Lowest rank

A careful study of labels shows that a number of items in the juice section claim no nutritional value at all.

Capri Sun All Natural, 10% fruit juice, various flavors: 100 cal/6.75 oz.
Town House Apple: 120 cal/8 oz. Frozen punches and juice drinks, various brands and flavors: 80 - 130 cal/8 oz reconstituted.
Kool Aid Bursts: 100 cal/6.75 oz bottle.
Gatorade: 50 cal/8 oz. 

Most juices are fortified with vitamin C. Per serving, juices deliver more of that element than the fresh product because ascorbic acid (vitamin C) is added to offset its loss in processing. But vitamin C is the only nutritional claim for some of the most popular juices: (Nutritional values are expressed as percent of adult daily recommended allowances)

Juicy Juice Orange Punch, 100% Fruit Juice: 70 cal/4.23 oz box; vitamin C 100%.
Juicy Juice Berry Punch, 100% Fruit Juice: 80 cal/4.23 oz box; vitamin C 100%. (By comparison, a serving of fresh raspberries or strawberries contains 130% of RDA of vitamin C; 2% of calcium; 2% of iron; 2 grams fiber.)
Tree Top Fruit Punch, 25% Juice: 130 cal/8.45 oz box; vitamin C 100%.
Ocean Spray Ruby Red flavors: 130 cal/8 oz; vitamin C 100%.
Langers Diet Ruby Red, 35% juice: 40 cal/8 oz; vitamin C 100%.
Ocean Spray Cranberry Cocktail flavors: 100 - 130 cal/8 oz; vitamin C 100%.
Grape juices, bottled or canned, various brands: 160 cal/8 oz; vitamin C ranges from 45 to 100 percent. (By comparison, one serving of fresh grapes contains 8% DRA of potassium; 4% of fiber; 1% of protein; 2% of vitamin A; 25% of vitamin C; 2% of calcium; 7% of iron.)
Town House Orange Juice, frozen: 90 cal/6 oz; vitamin C 100%. (A medium sized fresh orange contains 6% of adult RDA of potassium; 10% of vitamin A; 80% of vitamin C; 4% of calcium,1% of protein, 5% of fiber.)
Grapefruit juice, canned or bottled, various brands: 100 cal/8 oz; vitamin C 100%. Some brands also contain 2% DRA calcium. (One-half fresh grapefruit: Potassium, 6% of RDA; vitamin A, 10%; Vitamin C, 80%; Calcium 4%; Protein 1%; Fiber 5%.) 

Middle Rankers

Dole Pineapple Juice, canned: 110 cal/8 oz; C 100%; calcium 2%; Iron 4%; fiber 2 grams. (Fresh pineapple per serving: C 25%; potassium 3%; fiber 1 gram.)
Sunny Delight, 5% juice: 130 cal/8oz; vitamin A 20%; C 100%; Thiamin 15%.
Minute Maid Orange, frozen: 110 cal/8 oz; C 200%; calcium 2%; thiamin 10%; folate 15%. Sunsweet Prune Juice, bottled: 180 cal/8 oz; calcium 2%; iron 10%; fiber 2 grams.
Minute Maid Orange, refrigerated, fresh, in plastic bottle: 110 cal/8 oz; C 130%; calcium 2%; thiamin 10%; folate 15%.
Minute Maid, box, 100% juice: 120 cal/8.45 oz; C 130%; calcium 2%; thiamin 10%; folate 15%. 

Winners

Tomato Juice, most brands: 50 cal/8 oz; A 20%; C 40%; potassium 6%; calcium 2%; iron 8%; fiber 4%. (Fresh tomato, medium: potassium 9%; fiber 4%; protein 1%; vitamin A 15%; C 35%; iron 2%.)
Minute Maid Calcium Rich, refrigerated, fresh: 120 cal/8 oz; C 130%; potassium 10%; calcium 30%; thiamin 10%; folate 15%.
Tropicana Fresh, refrigerated: 120 cal/8 oz; C 130%; potassium, 10%; calcium 2%; thiamin 10%; niacin 4%; vitamin B-6 6%; folate 25%.
V-8 Vegetable Cocktail: 70 cal/5.5 oz; A 30%; C 60%; potassium 10%; calcium 2%; iron 4%; fiber 4%.
All Sport Body Quencher: 70 cal/8 oz; thiamin 10%; niacin 10%; B-6 10%; B-12 10%; folate 10%; pantothenic acid 10%. 

Processing it Out

Why the discrepancy between the juice and the fresh fruit? “Because nutrients are processed out,” replies Holly Berry, an Oregon State University Extension home economist. “Heat destroys some of the vitamins, and fiber and minerals in skins, pulp, and berry seeds are filtered out and discarded.”

It’s in and near the skins, in fact, where fruits carry their greatest nutritive values. The skins of grapes and apples and the membranes and fibrous material next to citrus peel are where the fiber and trace minerals are, and the enzymes which give those foods their capabilities to fight cancer and strengthen immune systems. Which is why nutritionists emphasize the need for fresh, unprocessed foods.

Nevertheless, “all the lists,” — USDA, school lunch and day care center dietary guidelines, and the Dole Nutrition Center — “count any juice as a serving of fruit,” says a university nutritionist who asked to remain unnamed. She added, “If anyone plans to make this a crusade, they won’t find many joiners.”