The Food and Drug Administration, or FDA, regulates and oversees food products in the United States to ensure the food supply is safe and manufacturers comply with federal health requirements. As part of these laws, juice manufacturers have to include specific information on their products.
Labels
The FDA requires that all food products, be they juices or other packaged food items, carry a nutritional label that contains product-specific information that allows consumers to make choices based on their nutritional content. The nutritional labels contain information on not only how much juice is in the package, but how many calories, nutrients and vitamins you ingest by consuming it.
Serving Size
All juice nutritional labels have to contain information about the nutritional value of the food item based on an individual serving size, and each panel has to include the serving size and the number of servings in the package. The Code of Federal Regulations section 101.12 states that the serving size for juices depends on the purpose for which the juice is intended. For example, a frozen juice concentrate serving size is typically 85 g, while a fruit juice drink is 240 ml, or 8 fluid ounces.
Calories
Of key importance to any health-conscious consumer when reading a juice nutritional label is the amount of calories and nutrients it has. Just below the "Nutritional Facts" heading on the label is the serving size information. Below this is the amount of calories the juice has per serving. So if a can contains two servings of juice with 80 calories per serving, and you drink the whole can, you ingest two servings or 160 calories.
Nutrients
Apart from the calories, the nutritional label must also contain a list of the nutrients in the drink, including the total amount of fat and saturated fat, cholesterol, sodium, carbohydrates and protein. The label must also include information on the presence of key vitamins and minerals, such as vitamin A, calcium, vitamin C and iron. These vitamins and minerals are measured based on the percentage of the daily value of the vitamin present in the drink, based on an average person's 2,000-calorie-per-day diet.
References
- U.S. Food and Drug Administration: How to Understand and Use the Nutrition Facts Label
- U.S. Food and Drug Administration: 7. Nutrition Labeling; Questions L1 through L153
- U.S. Food and Drug Administration: Juice - Guidance for Industry
- U.S. Food and Drug Administration: Code of Federal Regulations section 101.12
Member Comments