How to choose the best juice

Not every bottled, canned, or boxed fruit juice is healthy. Here’s what to choose and which to ditch…

Looking for one serving of fruit	Looking for bubbles	Looking for fibre

Choose: Ceres, Liquifruit 100% fruit juice \| 200kJ \| 12g carbohydrate Ditch: Capri-Sun 12% fruit juice \| 170 kJ \| 9.6g carbohydrate	Choose: Woolworths Sparkling Pomegranate and Green Tea 95kJ \| 5.1g carbohydrate Ditch: Sparkling mango and orange (there is very little difference between brands eg Just Juice and Ceres as they are all 100% juice) 215 kJ \| 12g carbohydrate	Choose: Pick n Pay Juice Blend Smoothie 244kJ \| 13.3g carbohydrate \| 1.3g fibre Note the difference in fibre content – the Pick n Pay smoothie will have 2.6g of fibre per 200ml serving – almost as much as a piece of fruit. Ditch:* Woolworths Berry and Cherry Smoothie 245kJ \| 11.3g carbohydrate \| 0.3g fibre

Looking for low-sugar flavour	Looking for added health benefits

Choose: Halls Passionfruit 84.6 kJ serving \| 4.7g carbohydrate Ditch: Roses Passionfruit cordial 193kJ \| 12g carbohydrate (When mixed according to instruction)	Choose: Lipton Red Ice Tea 114kJ \| 6.6g carbohydrate Ditch: Elgin Dew Lemon Ice Tea 196kJ \| 12g carbohydrate

*Values per 100ml

Dietitian Maya Naumann offers some juicy details

If you’re comparing fruit drinks, you may notice that 100% fruit juice products have quite a similar nutritional content. Then there are some fruit drinks that have fewer kilojoules and fewer grams of sugar per 100ml. The main difference here (look at the Woolworths Sparkling Pomegranate and Green Tea vs. the 100% sparkling juice, or Capri Sun vs.100% juice boxes) is that these products have been diluted with water.
Try diluting your own drinks. If you’re out with a friend and you both want something a bit more exciting than water, then one of you can order juice, the other water, and you can go half-half.
To allow water to compete with juice and other colourful drinks, dress it up with lemon and orange slices or strawberries, cucumber and mint leaves. Don’t underestimate the role of visual appeal.
125ml of fruit juice is approximately equivalent to a serving of fruit, but by eating the fruit, you get the added benefit of fibre, something to chew on and bulk in your stomach.

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