A few dollars on the shelf at room temperature juice, refrigerated cabinets have noble packaging of 20 yuan juice, buy which one is good? The high-priced juice with simple design, decent marketing and occupying the prime position on the shelf has gained a lot of favor among office workers. This time FunFood is going to dissect the production process and nutrition of high-priced juice for you, and whether it is worth buying, you will definitely have your own judgment after reading.

There are three types of fruit juices on the market today: recovered fruit juice, virgin fruit juice and freshly squeezed fruit juice. Simply put, the price ranking is: recovery juice < original juice < freshly squeezed juice.

Recovery Juice

Recovery Juice, that is, when water is added to the juice concentrate.

In the process of recovering juice production, for the sake of reducing storage and transportation costs, extend shelf life and other considerations, the manufacturer will be in the heat sterilization of fruit juice after low temperature vacuum concentration. Before bottling and then add water to let the juice back to the original concentration. But whether it is high temperature sterilization or concentration, the heating process will lead to darker juice, flavor deterioration (eaten boiled oranges, steamed apples you must understand), so raw manufacturers will mix some juice for flavoring. In addition, food additives and sugar may be added.

Let's take a look at the ingredient list for recovered juice: water is the first ingredient, and additives are added to improve the flavor.

But, left and right, the ingredient list still gives an honest picture of how the juice is processed, and some consumers will be able to clearly recognize the difference between industrially produced juice and freshly squeezed juice.

Freshly squeezed juice

Freshly squeezed juice is physically extracted directly from the fruit. Just freshly squeezed juice has a short shelf life and is usually sold in stores or requires rapid air transportation, which is more costly.

Original Juice

In order to reduce the cost and the pursuit of freshly squeezed juice natural, businessmen have developed in between the two original juice, and the original frozen juice has been formed in the mainstream in Europe and the United States. There are two major reforms to the original juice production line:

Removing the concentration process

Changing the sterilization method

Some of the high-priced juices we see in supermarkets and convenience store refrigerated cabinets are NFC juices.

NFC, or Native Fresh Fruit Concentrate, is not from concentrate. -Products that do not come from diluting fruit juice from concentrate. If the sterilization process uses only non-thermal processing or pasteurization, and not autoclaving, it can be called a little more advanced "freshly squeezed" juice.

The process can be simplified as follows:

Selection of fruits - juice - sterilization - (short storage) direct filling - storage - transportation - terminal Selling (supermarkets, convenience stores, hotels)

De-concentration

The juice that eliminates the concentration-recovery process is the original juice. The elimination of the concentration process saves 90% of the production energy, but if you choose non-thermal sterilization or pasteurization, its cold chain transportation and preservation will add some energy consumption. Overall, the production of virgin juice releases fewer greenhouse gases than the production of recovered juice.

Changing sterilization

But such production also brings new problems:

First, the lack of ultra-high-temperature instant sterilization makes the product more "delicate". Once exposed to the cold chain, microorganisms begin to grow, causing quality problems. So not only should suppliers make sure that cold chain transportation is foolproof (we can't afford to lose in this climate of public opinion on food safety), but consumers should also refrigerate or drink the product as soon as possible after they buy it.

Second, according to a report by interface reporter Zhao Xiaojuan, raw juice costs 5-6 yuan to produce and package, and then becomes 13 yuan after going through distributors, distribution, and reaching the terminal. Such a high selling price was not quite acceptable to consumers a few years ago, and then with the upgrading of consumption, the pursuit of natural and additive-free consumers are gradually willing to pay. But as of 2015, no business in the single category of original juice sales of more than 100 million yuan.

So looking at the ingredient list can tell the difference between raw juice and recovered juice.

The high-priced juice in the freezer could be virgin juice or pasteurized recovered juice.