Home Food Health hero or villain? Fruit Juice Matters flags benefits of juice consumption

Health hero or villain? Fruit Juice Matters flags benefits of juice consumption

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Health hero or villain? Fruit Juice Matters flags benefits of juice consumption

Sugar has been singled out as the food sector’s chief villain. Consumption is associated with rising rates of obesity and related NCDs, including type 2 diabetes and heart disease. As a result, regulators throughout Europe are increasingly taking action to ween us off the sweet stuff – from the UK’s sugar tax to the introduction of front-of-pack NutriScore labelling.

According to data from the USDA, sodas and orange juice contain roughly equivalent amounts of sugar at 8.97g and 8.4g per 100g respectively. 100% fruit juice has therefore been classified as a high sugar foodstuff by World Health Organization. But, unlike soda, juice has not attracted the ire of regulators.

Indeed, according to EU law, the sugar content of 100% fruit juice must mirror the sugar content of the original fruit source – meaning it cannot have sugars added and nor can it be reformulated to reduce sugar – the European Fruit Juice Association (EFJA) suggested.

The attitude taken by European health care professionals and dietitians is also mixed.

A survey from Fruit Juice Matters, which is a ‘non-commercial’ initiative targeting health practitioners but partially funded by the EFJA, found advice on fruit juice consumption differed depending on the speciality. Dietitians and nutritionists were more likely to suggest ‘often’ that patients stopped or reduced 100% FJ consumption (23%) than positively recommending it (11%). In comparison, 12% of paediatricians and 7% of GPs frequently suggested a reduction/cessation of juice consumption while 17% and 22% respectively recommended consumption.