THE JUICE JUNGLE.

Attention shoppers: Which of the following is the healthiest choice?

a. "real fruit juice beverage with 100% vitamin C per serving"

b. "100% fresh orange juice"

c. "beverage of carrot, apple & 3 tropical fruit juices from concentrate and mango puree with 100% vitamins A & C for a burst of nutrition"

d. "100% grape juice"

e. "cranberry juice cocktail"

Shopping for fruit juice has gotten complicated. The correct answer (b) may not be obvious. It's not just a matter of knowing that orange runs circles around other juices, especially everpresent apple and grape (see "Juice vs. Juice").

A smart shopper also has to know that anytime a product's name contains the words "beverage," "ade," "cocktail," "drink," or (sometimes) "blend," you're getting something other than 100-percent juice. It doesn't matter if it's "natural," "real," or loaded with "200% vitamin C." In each case, some company's marketing department is using the lure of juice to sell you mostly sugar and water.

Why Juice?

Why bother drinking juice in the first place? Eating more fruits and vegetables helps cut the risk of cancer, high blood pressure, and possibly heart disease. And each six-ounce glass of juice counts as a serving of fruit.

True, eating the whole fruit is better, because the fiber is usually lost when the fruit is processed. What's more, juices are more calorie-dense than fruit. A cup of orange juice has 110 calories. An orange has 60 calories. And the orange is more likely to fill you up.

Nevertheless, even canned, bottled, or "from concentrate" juices have most of their fruits' original vitamins, minerals, and phytochemicals. That makes them far better than soft drinks as well as those fruit drinks, beverages, etc., that companies keep trying to pawn off as juice.

Take purple grape juice. Its nutrients levels put it near the bottom of the fruit barrel. But preliminary studies suggest that its phytochemicals may help prevent heart disease by preventing blood clots, keeping LDL ("bad") cholesterol from getting oxidized, and enlarging the arteries to increase blood flow.

The grape-juice studies, which have been funded largely by Welch's, are preliminary because (among other things) they haven't yet been published and involve only a dozen or so people. Also preliminary is a study claiming that apple juice prevents LDL oxidation ... in test tubes.

Another example: cranberry juice cocktail is far from a nutritional powerhouse. Yet in a study of older women, those who drank ten ounces every day had half the risk of urinary tract infections of those who were given a cranberry-free beverage. Researchers think that the proanthocyanidins or other substances in cranberries work by keeping bacteria from adhering to the lining of the urinary tract.

Seeing Through the Scams

Why do juice-makers insist on selling something other than juice? They can't make a killing selling OJ if everyone else is. Each needs to separate its brand from the rest.

So they start with water and dirt-cheap high-fructose corn syrup and stir in juices like apple or grape. Some splurge on a few thimblesful of (expensive) juices like mango, kiwi, or strawberry and a dollop of (inexpensive) vitamins. Any savings goes to a drop-dead gorgeous label and (if they can afford it) a multi-million-dollar advertising campaign.

That's why Procter & Gamble's Sunny Delight--which is just five-percent juice--had sales of $370 million in 1997. And that's why you're left wandering through the juice aisle, reading labels until your vision blurs. Some tricks you might miss:

* V8 Splash combines "just enough luscious pineapple, kiwi, and mango" (or other exotic fruits) with carrot juice "to create a thirst-quenching beverage that will please everyone in your family." The added vitamin C is "needed for healthy bones, gums, and teeth." The vitamin A is "essential for vision and healthy skin," according to the label. Translation: 25 percent juice, 75 percent sugar-water.

* Fruitopia, the "real fruit beverage" made by Coca-Cola, has "100% vitamin C per serving" in flavors like Strawberry Passion Awareness and Tremendously Tangerine. How about five percent strawberry and 95 percent "high-fructose corn syrup awareness"?

* Mystic Mango Mania Fruit Drink has mangoes all over the label. But the company doesn't bother putting any in the bottle, unless that's what's in the "natural flavors." On a dark green leaf of one mango are the words "white grape juice from concentrate." Make that three percent (nutritionally bankrupt) white grape juice and 97 percent sugar-water.

From Tropicana Twister to Veryfine Apple Quenchers, from Capri Sun to Snapple, from Squeezit to Mondo Fruit Squeezers, the marketplace is loaded with diluted juices. The only thing that stands between you and a glass of (mostly) high-fructose corn syrup is a number, like "3% juice," somewhere on the label. Your mission is to find it.

The Best

Here's a little guide to the best juices.

1. Look for "100% Juice" on the label. It's a federal law. The percentage of juice must be listed. But watch those brand names. Some brands have both all-juice and far-from-all-juice lines. A few examples:

100% Juice            Less than 100% Juice
Snapple Farms         Snapple (5% to 10% juice)
Squeezit 100          Squeezit (1%)
Veryfine Juice Ups    Veryfine Apple Quenchers (30%)
Minute Maid Premium   Minute Maid Premium Punch (10%)

Our Best Bites are all 100% juice (or juice, fruit, and a little extra water in one case). But use your head. Florida's Natural Honey Sweetened Ruby Red Grapefruit Juice and Honey Blend--which is 97 percent juice--is awfully close.

2. Shoot for the most-nutritious juices. The top four: orange, grapefruit, prune, and pineapple. All are far more nutritious than apple, grape, or pear juice, which don't get a Best Bite unless they are fruit-juice mixtures that have enough fruit (or puree) to supply at least two grams of fiber.

3. Fortification's fine; fortified junk isn't. Calcium-fortified orange juice is a boon to bones whose owners don't drink milk. Orange juice with added vitamin C can't hurt--though plain old frozen OJ doesn't need anything added to reach 100 percent of the Daily Value. A juice that's largely fortified high-fructose corn syrup, on the other hand, is no better than a soft drink plus a vitamin pill.

The information for this article was compiled by Wendy Meltzer.

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