So, lentil weaving types, I've been wondering this for a while...

[Gobbledigook]

... what is the problem with fruit juice from concentrate?

Not a dig, a genuine question - I buy organic juice but it's the long life stuff from concentrate. I'll swap to fresh if there is a good reason to!

It has the water taken out of it and is then reconstituted, so it's much more processed than fresh juice so more scope for loss of vitamins and so on along the way. It's not bad per se, just not as good as fresh juice that hasn't been reconstituted.

It also doesn't taste as good as fresh juice

OK so a choice between concentrated fruit juice and squash?

Agree with WWB. We tend to buy fresh because I always thought there was more vitamin C in it. Grove Fresh is a good brand, I think their fresh juice is minimally pasteurised to retain vitamins.
I think orange juice is much, much nicer fresh - difference far less obvious with apple.
Nothing wrong with long-life juice though - we use the Libby's little cartons for picnics etc

I'd say squash was worse than concentrated juice - even more processed, generally with added (sometimes nasty) ingredients. Depends on the squash though; Rocks Organic and supermarket own brand are poles apart.

Well Gillian I personally prefer a glass of Rock's Organic Orange squash to longlife OJ

Obviously fruit juice from concentrate, without additives, is much healthier than squash.

What's the difference between Rock's Organic Squash and Tesco's own, say? Additives?

And hight juice? How does that fit into the spectrum?

high juice...

someone is buying all the bottles of the Rock's Lemon squash up (is it you Marina ) - I bought it once and it was absolutely delicious but it has been sold out everywhere round here since then

At least juice-from-concentrate has nothing in it but juice and water.
Reading a squash label is enough to put me off as there is so much non-juice rubbish in there.
The worst is 'whole orange drink' which I always though sounded healthy and wholesome etc till I realised it was, as it said, made from whole oranges, peel, pips and all.

I often dilute fresh-squeezed juice with water to make it less sugary, and as it goes so much further it works out about the same price as buying juice-from-conc and drinking it neat.
Though from-conc is just as sugary as fresh-squeezed so perhaps one should dilute that too, then it'd probably work out as cheap as squash.

oh, and I don't buy organic juice because it's just too damn pricey.

Rocks is basically sugar and fruit. It has nothing else in so needs to be kept in the fridge once opened and consumed in 2 weeks (not me FIS but yes the lemon is gorge too).
It's the only squash we buy but we don't get through much.

We always dilute juice and again I find that works better with apple than with orange

Ooh, good, there were no replies last time I looked!

The boys and I don't drink squash at all (dh does) - full of crap generally.

So, er, what's the take home message here? Fresh juice is better but from concentrate (if no additives) is perfectly acceptable? I do water it down too.

That's what I reckon - fresh is better, concentrate is OK. I don't always buy fresh cos I can't bloody well afford to. I buy fresh for picnics etc. We always water down all juice too, and I do buy Rocks organic squash sometimes

So, dilemma for you - fresh normal juice or organic concentrate?

And while we are on it - I had a similar dilemma the other day buying tomatoes - do I go for organic ones from Spain or non-organic British ones? I went for the British ones.

I would have gone for the British tomatoes too gdg. Apart from you buying organic juice I think we are on a par. The kids mainly drink watered down apple juice. Don't usually have squash in the house.

I've become a bit OTT about it though and go a bit bananas when dh buys squash! And God forbid if someone offers them a fruit shoot! I stand there saying 'yeah, fine' like it doesn't bother me at all and inside I'm going 'arrrrrrggghghghghghghghghghghg'

I need to get out more!

After a friend of a friend's 18-month-old daughter died from e.coli infection from unpasteurised juice - this was in Colorado, I don't buy DD1 ANY juice that's not been pasteurised. Mostly I dilute her water w/cut up bits of fruit b/c she likes a bit of flavour, she also likes to have some of my cucumber/lime water in this heat.

But I keep a carton of apple juice from concentrate to hand at all times.

As for produce and food - I buy locally first, preferably organic.

Oh DH would never buy squash. I am bad. I even buy them fruit shoots myself occasionally. Would not buy them to have in the house though.

squash = yuk

fruit shoots = puke

ANYTHING w/artificial sweetners just doesn't get into our house.

i like really really weak Rock's blackcurrant cordial, with lots of ice

Expat, you're wise to avoid unpasteurised juice, but it's actually pretty hard to find in the UK - all the stuff in the supermarket chillers will have been pasteurised and it's only really kiosks where they squeeze it to order that don't pasteurise.

And for what it's worth the UK's never had a food poisoning outbreak associated with any kind of fruit juice.

(just trying to reassure people that might be having a minor panic)

My DH was working recently with a large juice manufacturer on a project, he suggested to them that they incorporate in their marketing all the advantages of fresh juice over concentrate. There was a stony silence in the room and they were forced to admit that there are NO advantages of fresh over concentrate except of course taste. In terms of health giving properties they are the same.

From that moment on we swapped to concentrate as it's so much cheaper and like most of you we water it down too.

Oh that's interesting glassofwine!