In an era of sugar overdose, health-minded people often turn to
fruit juice-sweetened products (such as juices, jams, and
cookies) as a "healthier" alternative to those sweetened with
sugar or corn syrup. It is generally assumed that if it's
sweetened with fruit juice, it must be healthier. In addition,
many people assume that fruit-juice sweetened products have a
lesser effect on blood sugar levels because there is no so-called
sugar involved.

However, what you see on the ingredient list is not necessarily
what you get. In fact, much of the commercially used fruit juice
concentrate (apple, pear, and white grape being the most
popular) should hardly qualify as such.

Fruit juice concentrates come in different forms. Most people are
familiar with frozen juice concentrates that people buy for
reconstitution at home. Additionally, most juices you find on the
shelves are reconstituted from concentrate. Juice concentration
involves evaporating most of the water out of the juice, leaving
most of the flavor, color and nutrients behind. Water is then
added back in to reconstitute the juice. Concentrated juices are
easier to store and have a longer shelf life as well. Not much to
argue with there.

However, to make fruit juice concentrate into a production-
friendly sweetener, it has to go through a lengthy and
expensive process called "stripping". As the name implies,
everything is stripped out of the juice: vitamins, minerals, color,
flavor, etc. Then it goes through a deionization process similar
to the one that turns cornstarch into corn syrup.

What's left is essentially glucose syrup-sugar water that looks
and behaves a lot like corn syrup. It is sweet, but it is colorless,
flavorless, and doesn't alter the pH of whatever is being
sweetened, all of which are highly desirable in the
manufacturing process. Although it no longer resembles
anything close to a fruit juice concentrate, thanks to loopholes
in the FDA's guidelines it is still considered a fruit juice
concentrate. Marketers can still put "100% juice" or "no sugar
added" on the package.

How can you tell if the product you buy has stripped juice
concentrate or not? Manufacturers are not required to disclose
how much of their juice concentrates are stripped, so there
really is no effective way to know. However, a good rule of
thumb is this-if you can't taste the fruit it has been concentrated
from, then the concentrate has probably been stripped. The
next time you reach for that raspberry juice blend, whose
primary ingredient is pear juice from concentrate, you can pretty
much guarantee that the pear juice has been stripped to
remove the pear flavor.

If you buy fruit juice-sweetened products thinking that they
won't affect blood sugar like table sugar does you are wrong.
Stripped concentrates are nothing more than sugar syrup and
have the same effect. They are absorbed just as quickly into the
bloodstream and metabolized the same way. Add to that the
complete lack of nutritional value and you've leveled the playing
field with table sugar.

The USDA reports that Americans ingest an average of 20
teaspoons of sugar (caloric sweeteners such as table sugar and
corn syrup) per day-twice the suggested limit. Huge increases in
sugar consumption in recent decades can likely be linked to the
proliferation of corn syrup and high-fructose corn syrup as
sweeteners. (Nearly all processed foods contain at least one of
these, largely due to their cheaper cost than table sugar and
their ease of use in the food manufacturing processes.)

As public awareness of the harmful effects of sugar and corn
syrup has increased, we have begun to look for ways to cut
back on the sugar and corn syrup. However, we are a culture
that loves our sweets. We still want to have our cake and eat it
too, so to speak. Artificial sweeteners enjoyed popularity for
awhile, but as evidence has mounted regarding their dangers,
consumers are looking for healthier natural sweeteners.

Does fruit juice concentrate fill that niche? Hardly. Are you really
doing yourself a favor by choosing fruit juice concentrates over
other sweeteners? Not really. The bottom line is this-you pay a
whole lot more money for an end product that is essentially the
same as a sugar-sweetened one.

Gery Craig is a successful Agel Business Leader. Agel has transformed the nutritional supplement by creating a great tasting gel formula that has highly effective nutritionals and is convenient for your lifestlye. Visit http://www.whyagel.com.