According to a recent New York Times article, the American Academy of Pediatrics has “advised parents to avoid 100 percent fruit juice for babies younger than 6 months.” This may come as a shock to many, as the image of a baby drinking a bottle of apple juice is as fundamental as any.

This common misconception can have some real consequences, however, as outlined by Dr. Elsie M. Taveras, chief of the division of general pediatrics at MassGeneral Hospital for Children in Boston. One of the primary concerns in giving infants under one-year- old fruit juice of any kind, even 100 percent fruit juice, is that they can act as a type of “gateway drink”. There are studies indicating that infants who drink more juice in infancy are more prone to drink soda and sugary beverages later in life. This risk, along its classification by the American Academy of Pediatrics as a drink with “no nutritional benefits early in life”, makes grabbing for that carton of apple juice seem a lot more dangerous than it has seemed before. 

While facts may back up this scientific consensus, there may still be many who refuse to accept a practice that has been understood as cultural fact. I know when I asked my mom if I had been given fruit juice as an infant, there was not a second of hesitation before a calm “of course, why wouldn’t I?”. Even as I explained the statement procured by the American Academy of Pediatrics, there was still some hesitation in her eyes, and the rest of my family disregarded the information entirely.

Some practices are so ingrained into our daily lives that it seems absurd to change them even in the face of cold hard evidence, like the old practice of giving teething babies a few drops of whiskey to soothe their pain. These practices make their way into our daily habits, to the point where having juice with breakfast seems necessary. 

Despite experts like Dr. Man Wai Ng from the Boston Children’s hospital stating that “one hundred percent fruit juice should be offered only on special occasions, especially for kids who are at high-risk for tooth decay”, we still see portrayals of fruit juice as part of a healthy balanced breakfast over all genres of media. They make their way into our commercials and television shows, it is shown so often that any negative connotation that could potentially be aligned with it disappears. Despite the deep roots that juice drinking as young children has in our culture today, it’s spot is not an unchangeable one. 

In the face of this statement made by the American Academy of Pediatrics, there is a prime chance to change the cultural facts that have been written through the generations. Just as the image of the smoking father or mother has largely disappeared from our minds, perhaps the visual of babies drinking juice can as well.

Avoiding sugary drinks like fruit juice and opting for either whole fruit (when able) or sticking to formula/milk is a healthy change that needs to be implemented on a societal level. So remember next time to push apple juice to the back of the shelf, not into your pantry!

Designs By: Courteney Lisowski

Just another reason why eating your fruit, vs. drinking it, is the best way to go !!

When you look at a juice label, the first thing you see is the last thing you should trust, the label. Giant corporations are capitalizing on shoppers’ confusion over labels’ claims of healthy fiber, exotic antioxidants, and neuron-nourishing ingredients. What they don’t bring to your attention are the crushed bug parts used for coloring and the carcinogenic fungicide, exotic antioxidants, and cheap fake ingredients that are lurking in the bottles.

“Juice makers, including Coca-Cola and PepsiCo, realize that consumers are concerned about losing weight and reducing their risk of diet-related diseases,” says senior nutritionist Jayne Hurley, coauthor of a new juice review published in the Center for Science in the Public Interest’s (CSPI’s) Nutrition Action newsletter.

“But no juice is going to perform miracles for eyes, skin, hearts, colons, or any other part of the body. That goes for just plain juice, and it certainly goes for a juice dressed up with some combination of water, artificial sweeteners, food dyes, or fake fibers,” she adds.

Bone up on these hidden ingredients and marketing tricks and never be fooled in the juice aisle again! 

Fungicide-Laced Fruit 

Recent Food and Drug Administration testing found that a banned fungicide is turning up in about 15 percent of orange juice samples tested. According to the Los Angeles Times, the administration is ramping up efforts after Coca-Cola, the owner of the Minute Maid and Simply Orange juice brands, found toxic carbendazim in samples. Most of the tainted juices are from fruit grown in Brazil, Mexico, Costa Rica, and Belize, where the harmful fungicide is still legal. Organic juice is your best bet. Even better? Just eat a whole organic orange. The fiber will help prevent a blood sugar crash related to drinking juice.

Go-To Ingredients: The Least-Nutritious Juices 

According to the CSPI report, juice makers often use the cheapest juices, apple and grape, as the main juice ingredients, even if they aren’t in the name of the product. For instance, Trop50’s Pomegranate Blueberry variety contains more apple juice than pomegranate juice and more grape juice than blueberry juice.

Fake Fiber 

The label of Welch’s 100 percent Grape Juice with Fiber makes it seem like the fiber comes from unadulterated, natural sources like “whole Concord grape skins and seed.” Instead, CSPI points out that the fiber comes from the processed food additive maltodextrin, a starch-like carb that actually resists digestion. V8 High Fiber, Sunsweet PlumSmart, and Prune Juice Light pull similar tricks. To get your healthy fiber fix, just eat the actual fruit. It’s better for your blood sugar and diabetes risk.

Insane Sugar Content 

Many parents think juices are health drinks, but that’s simply not the case. Take Tropicana Tropical Fruit Fury Twister, for example. One 20-ounce bottle contains 340 calories and a whopping 60 grams of sugar. That’s the sugar equivalent of giving your child two 7-ounce canisters of Reddi-wip to guzzle down. Tropicana is owned by Pepsi, and just like the parent company’s soda, the juices are loaded with artificial ingredients, and the juice products often contain very little actual fruit juice. Honest Kids organic pouch drinks are much healthier choices.

Crushed Beetle Ingredients 

If you’re a fan of ruby-red grapefruit juice, you’d better flip the bottle over and read the label. If the product lists carmine, natural red #4, crimson lake, or cochineal extract, you’re likely ingesting food coloring that comes from the crushed abdomen of Dactylopius coccus, an African beetle-like insect.

Brain-Draining Food Dyes 

Tropicana Twister Cherry Berry Blast contains 0 percent berry and cherry juice, despite the name of the drink. The color of the nutritionally defunct product comes not from healthy fruit, but from the artificial dye Red #40, which has been linked to hyperactivity and other behavioral problems in some kids. In many cases, it’s much cheaper for companies to use petroleum-derived fake coloring than real fruit juice. CSPI recently filed a regulatory petition urging the Food and Drug Administration to require front-of-label disclosure of food colorings, a labeling move that 75 percent of the population wants, according to a 2010 CSPI survey.