Fruit Juice Concentrate
fruit juice concentrate, concentrated fruit juice, fruit concentrate, apple juice concentrate, grape juice concentrate, pear juice concentrate
What it is
Fruit juice from which water has been removed, concentrating the natural sugars. Used as a sweetener in processed foods while allowing manufacturers to label products as containing 'fruit' or 'no added sugar'.
Why BOTIA flags it
WHO classifies fruit juice concentrates as free sugars. They are chemically similar to added sugar but benefit from a health halo. A product labelled 'no added sugar' can still contain concentrated fruit juice as its primary sweetener.
BOTIA CAN
- Detect fruit juice concentrates on ingredient labels.
- Flag products using fruit concentrates as primary sweeteners despite 'no added sugar' claims.
- Categorise them as WHO free sugar (fruit concentrate group).
BOTIA CANNOT
- Distinguish between different types of fruit concentrate used.
- Quantify the exact sugar content from the concentrate alone.
- Tell you the total sugar content — check the nutrition label.