August 25, 2006 9:31 AM
adam

Most bottled juice is like this. And yes, it is misleading. Just go look at a basic jug of Ocean Spray Cranberry, and it's mostly apple and grape with a little bit of cran thrown in.

100% purre cranberry juice is actually extremely expensive.

August 26, 2006 9:42 AM
Sarah

It is misleading, and I always buy this stuff. We just have to take a closer look at the ingredients before buying stuff, although it's time-consuming, so I don't!

August 26, 2006 10:53 AM
Steven

However, Ocean Spray is selling something called "100% Juice", which is reconstituted juice from concentrate, but with no added sugar, high-fructose corn syrup, etc., and I think it avoids the apple-juice base that a lot of these companies use.

August 28, 2006 12:23 PM
LordJezo

Like Adam said, the pure stuff is expensive. It's also harder to find, comes in small containers, and isn't really drinkable with out watering it down. Check out Trader Joe's or the organic section of your supermarket for it. I assume grape would be the same as well.

Like he also says, almost all bottled juice is like this. Everything that's 100% juice is indeed 100% juice, but 100% of a whole bunch of things. I wondered the same thing you did last year when I set off to find 100% real one berry juice. Once I actually tasted pure cranberry juice I realized why the companies spike it with a bunch of other things, you can't really enjoy it in it's straight form.

September 2, 2006 1:50 PM
David

I'm sad to say that this is also often the case for jams, pie fillings and other fruit products.

I recently bought a jar of 'triple fruits' jam (1/3 more fruit, 1/3 less calories) -- with the word "strawberry" written clearly on the front. Instead of triple the strawberries of regular jam, it instead was a clever blend of strawberries, raspberries and (mostly) red plums.

September 3, 2006 10:57 AM
Mark

Ironic, Tanya, that you didn't know about the use of apple and white grape as bases for juice flavors -- it's beverage food science 101. :-)

I agree with LordJezo. Pure cranberry juice is undrinkable, as least the Trader Joe's stuff. There's a reason why cranberry juice has always been sold as a "cocktail" juice. Replacing the sugar and water with apple and grape juice is a step up.

Apple and white grape juice are both neutral enough that they can be used as a basis for all kinds of flavors. There's a mixed juice by Tropicana that tastes like peach, but it contains grape, orange, strawberry, and peach juice, in roughly that order. It's delicious. I reckon that real 100% peach juice, besides being expensive, might not evoke a peach taste. I have a jar of peach jam in my refrigerator that is kind of tasteless, and all it is is peach, sugar, and pectin, in that order.

September 22, 2006 6:45 PM
Laursey

At least it's 100% juice and not trying to fool everyone like some of those "juice drinks". I think it tastes pretty good even if it tastes a little more like apple than grape.

September 26, 2006 2:33 AM
tanya [admin]

I am so late in replying - but thanks for all the comments. My shock wasn't so much from them using apple etc. but from the fact that it was clearly labeled 100% juice with the word 'grape' below it. I hate these marketing tactics!

I would have preferred them say 100% grape juice blend. Then I would have knowingly bought it multiple times, instead of getting 'caught' once and vowing to never buy it again!