Help and frequent questions

11.WHAT DIFFERENCES ARE BETWEEN JUICES, NECTARS AND FRUIT BEVERAGES?

 

FRUIT JUICE The juice can be natural or come from concentrated juice, depending on whether it comes from fruit squeezed or if water has been added in order to restore the water previously lost during the concentration of the fruit. In both cases the fruit content is 100%, although it is not indicated by the labeling, it is an inherent property of the legal name of Juices, since no juice can carry added sugar.

NECTAR OF FRUITS Fruit nectar is the beverage obtained from the mixture of fruits and the addition of water, sugars and fruit acids. The nectar can carry sugars or sweeteners, but must maintain a minimum content of fruit according to the European law, being mainly 50% fruit for most, although for others the minimum content in fruit may be somewhat lower (lemon, passion fruit , mango ... 25% fruit content). In any case it is mandatory to mention the minimum% of fruit.

FRUIT DRINK The fruit drink may contain a fruit content less than 50% . The drink can take sugars and / or sweeteners, and other ingredients and additives different from those that are present in nectars and fruit juices, such as certain aromas, dyes, milk, pectins, extracts, etc ... Sometimes they can also contain a% in fruit similar to nectar or even higher, but it is decided to call it a drink because of the need to add some coloring, aroma or ingredient (pectin, milk, extracts, etc ...) not contemplated in the own regulations of juices and nectars.

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22. WHAT DOES MEAN A JUICE FROM CONCENTRATE?

The concentration method of squeezed juices or purees of fruits supposes an extraction of the water to achieve the reduction of its volume and weight of up to 6 times and its main objective is to reduce transport costs. In this process no vitamins or minerals are lost, only a part of the aromatic fraction. During the preparation of the juice from the concentrate, only water and natural aromas from the same fruit are added. The nutritional and nutritional properties of the juice are identical whether it is made from direct juice or from concentrate. Both the juice squeezed and the concentrate are subjected to a pasteurization process, which is necessary to prevent fermentation from taking place and achieve enzymatic inactivation.

The final quality of a juice, therefore, depends on two factors: the raw material of origin used and the systems used in the pasteurization process, which must be minimally aggressive on the product.

The combination of both factors must result in a final product with optimal organoleptic qualities (flavor, aroma, freshness, etc.).

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33. DO GLUTEN CONTAIN ITS JUICES AND NECTARS?

No. No fruit or vegetables contain gluten. The additives, aromas and other ingredients that we use do not contain gluten either. That is to say, that our juices and nectars are not susceptible to have it, so we can not use the claim of "Without gluten". To know if a product contains gluten, you only have to look at the list of ingredients, because if any food contains it, it must be highlighted in a differentiated way (in capital letters, bold or italic).

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44. CAN THE JUICES HAVE DRY FRUITS OR LACTOSE FRUITS?

No. At present we do not pack any product that contains any of the allergens described in Annex II of Regulation 1169/2011, so there is no risk of cross contamination. If in the future we package products with some type of allergen, the protocol we have to avoid cross-contamination would be implemented, such as chemical cleaning after packaging of products with any type of allergens, Good Handling Practices, laboratory analysis external, etc ...

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55. DO THE JUICES CONTAIN SUGAR?

No. It is forbidden by law to add sugars to fruit juice, both if it is made from concentrate or not. The juice is only fruit, without additives, with its water, its nutrients and natural sugars. But as we have clarified in a previous question, we must distinguish between fruit juice and fruit nectar. At the points of sale we find two types of products: fruit juices and nectars. Nectars, however, can contain sugars, honey or sweeteners. To distinguish them, the legal name that must appear on the label is "fruit juice" or "nectar".

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66. WHAT DOES A NECTAR MEAN TO BE "LIGHT"?

We use the nutritional claim "light" in our range of fruit nectars "without added sugars" to facilitate the consumer identification of the qualities of this range, to which sweeteners are added instead of sugar in order to reduce the intake of carbohydrates With the substitution of sugar added by sweeteners, we managed to reduce the caloric value by more than 30% on the same sugar nectar

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77. WHAT IS PASTEURIZATION?

It is the treatment to which our products are subjected before packaging to reduce microorganisms to acceptable levels and stop the enzymatic oxidation processes, causing minimal changes in the nutritional value and organoleptic characteristics. That is, pasteurization is a basic operation that consists of a mild thermal treatment, with temperatures below 100ºC, which prolongs the useful life of the juices many months after pasteurization.

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88. IS IT HEALTHY TO DRINK JUICES?

Fruit juices are part of a healthy and balanced diet thanks to their nutritional properties. They have a ample quantity of antioxidants and vitamins and help keep us hydrated, so experts recommend their consumption.

It is important to remember that the WHO recommends a minimum consumption of 600 grams of fruit and vegetables, whose contribution can be through pieces of fruit or fruit and vegetable juices. Therefore taking into account the indicated and the current pace of life in which we move, in which many times the consumption of pieces of fruit is far below the recommended, a fruit juice can be an excellent substitute, since that the sugar present in some and others is identical both in composition and in quantity.

It should also be emphasized that the fruit juice does not have added sugar. That is why the World Health Organization (WHO) understands that the consumption of a daily glass of juice (150 / 200ml) is part of a healthy and balanced diet.

Precisely due to there is still a great ignorance among the population about the nutritional differences of juices, nectars and concentrates, entities such as ASOZUMOS and AIJN have started in 2016 a campaign to banish one of the false myths surrounding juices and nectars product with the help of health professionals (see more information in the following link).

http://www.asozumos.org/asozumos/notas-de-prensa-2016/uno-de-cada-4-espanoles-desayuna-fruta-o-zumo-de-fruta_10090_201_12128_0_1_in.html

 

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