Fruit juice is feeling the squeeze as doctors, scientists and public health authorities step up their efforts to reduce the nation’s girth.
“It’s pretty much the same as sugar water,” said Dr. Charles Billington, an appetite researcher at the University of Minnesota. In the modern diet, he said, “there’s no need for any juice at all.”
A glass of juice concentrates all the sugar from multiple pieces of fruit. Ounce per ounce, it contains more calories than soda, although it tends to be consumed in smaller servings. A cup of orange juice has 112 calories, apple juice has 114 and grape juice packs 152, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The same amount of Coca-Cola has 97 calories, and Pepsi has 100.
The Juice Products Association emphasizes the value of the vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients in juice — especially when so many American eat so little fresh produce.
