Multi-disappointing

By 30. März 2012Blog, Health, Nutrition, Quality

Multi-vitamin fruit juices are the 3rd favourite type of juice in Germany with a market share of 9%. Some people drink it for the health benefits, some for the taste of exotic fruit but a damning report from Stiftung Warentest says neither group are getting what they think they are getting.

When multi-vitamin juices were tested in 1992 and again in 1997 the quality was good, but sadly this is no longer the case. The main criticisms: only a small amount of real aroma and the concentration of vitamins is too high. In some cases, despite claims of up to 14 fruits inside there were no detectable fruit aromas present, in others the aromas were completely synthetic.

In terms of vitamins, many juices tested had higher levels of vitamins than stated. This is a big concern, as you could be overdosing on particular vitamins without knowing it. 100ml of fruit juice should provide approximately 15% of your recommended daily amount of certain vitamins including vitamin C. Some of the juices tested provided three times that amount. For water soluble vitamins this is not a major issue, but it is for fat soluble vitamins such as Vitamin A which are stored in your fat cells.

It’s not all bad news though; one well known (slightly pricey) fruit juice came through the test with a glowing report. Just goes to show you really do get what you pay for…..

To see which one and to read the full article (in German) go to the Stiftung Warentest website.