Eating fruits and vegetables helps keeping you healthy and protects against disease – we all know that - but they are not always as easy to consume as experts advise. Fortunately, juices are a convenient way to squeeze in and are a good natural source of vitamins and minerals.
But among the variety of juices that we can find on the market, it is rather difficult to recognize the differences between the various products. To make it simple, what are Concentrate and Not From Concentrate (NFC) juices?
Concentrates are made by taking a fruit juice, heating it to a high temperature and evaporating the water off. This leaves a thick syrup that is packed in drums and shipped across the world. At the bottling stage, water is added back to blend the juice up to its normal strength.
Not From Concentrated fruit juice is a relatively small category within the soft drinks industry, and, due to its quite higher selling price, it is seen as a premium product in most countries. It is made out of freshly squeezed juice which is pasteurized and then packed, without adding water, preservatives or sugar.
If a product claims it is made of pure juice or 100% fruit then there should be nothing else in it apart from fruit juice. However, the product may not be fresh and it could be made from concentrate, therefore “100%” juices are almost never NFC juices.
For those who don’t have the time to squeeze fresh juice every morning before rushing for a hard day’s work, the best option remains NFC juice. Even though NFCs are pasteurized and therefore have lost some vitamins, together with the advantages of a long shelf like and a convenient packaging, they are still the closest thing to a freshly squeezed juice, and brings more vitamins, fibers and minerals than the usual Concentrate or “100%” juice.
To recognize a NFC juice, just have a look at the packaging, where you can always find mentioned how the juice has been produced.
