<b>PULP FICTION</b>

There could be more sugar and preservatives than fruit in your packaged juice, warn doctors

You want to quench your thirst the healthy way. So instead of buying a cola beverage, you opt for packaged fruit juice. After all, it contains fruits, so it’s nutritious, you think. Its high-flying trademark (read Tropicana or Real) and the small content chart on its neat tetra pack can put to rest your worries about hygiene. But doctors take these neat-looking, delicious juices with a pinch of salt. “We give them to patients to avoid hygiene issues during their stay at the hospital, but we don’t recommend their daily consumption. Manufacturers may brag about their ‘real fruit’ content but we doubt the quality of preservatives and the amount of sugar used in them,” says nutritionist Ruchika Chhabra, Fortis La Femme Hospital, New Delhi.

Packaged vs. homemade
Fruit skin, which is rich in fibre, is usually removed in packaged juice. Grape skin, for instance, contains cancer-preventing molecules. Such essential fibres are retained in homemade juices, says Delhi-based pediatrician Sunil Bhatnagar. Also, many fruit juices are boiled before packing to kill bacteria but in the process vitamins and other nutrients also get destroyed. “Packaged juices are also filtered from pulps that contain most of the antioxidants, before being canned to maintain fluidity. In some cases, the packs refer to added pulp but there’s no guarantee whether the pulp is real or artificial,” he adds. Canned juices may also be contaminated with mold (airborne microscopic organisms) toxins from damaged fruit that may be processed.

Preservatives
Artificial colours or additives, that are common ingredients in packaged juices, can be harmful. According to industry sources, the most common preservative in processed foods is sodium benzoate, which controls bacteria, mold, yeasts, and other microbes and is typically used in acidic foods. “Mixing sodium benzoate with ascorbic acid (vitamin C) produces benzene, a proven carcinogen. However, not much has been talked about this aspect,” says Banglore-based nutritionist Sudha Nagar.
Leading brands insist they don’t use preservatives and instead opt for natural substitutes such as natural citrus. Says Dabur India GM (marketing) KK Chutani, “We agree that addition of artificial preservatives and sugar affects the nutritional value of the juice, which is why our products, Réal and Réal Activ, don’t have artificial additives. The preservatives present in our fruit juices are all natural preservatives present in the fruit itself. Also, the Réal Activ range does not have any added sugar.”
Pepsico, manufacturer of Tropicana, speaks in the same vein. “Our juices have zero added sugar, no preservatives and no extra colour/ flavour. For example, a litre of Tropicana 100% Orange juice is made from two kg of oranges and has equivalent vitamin C as in two oranges in one serving,” says a Pepsico spokesperson.

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