For festival camping, a ready-to-drink no-added-sugar apple juice drink suits you if its pack permits storage without refrigeration before opening and you can refrigerate it afterwards. Choose a pressed apple juice whose ingredients list has no sweeteners if that matters more to you, but check its sugars and storage instructions; choose concentrated squash only if you have drinking water for dilution. “No added sugar” does not mean sugar-free or sweetener-free.
Look for a pack that permits cool, dry storage before opening, then plan how you will refrigerate, share or finish it once opened. Tesco Groceries gives different instructions for unopened and opened cartons of its no-added-sugar apple juice drinks.
A no-added-sugar label may fit your preference, but check the ingredients if you also want to avoid sweeteners. Tesco Groceries lists sucralose in both its Tesco and Growers Harvest apple juice drinks.
Check the ingredients of a 100% pressed juice rather than assuming every no-added-sugar drink is free of sweeteners. Tesco Groceries lists apple juice and ascorbic acid for Copella, while both Tesco Groceries and Tropicana UK list naturally occurring sugars in their pressed apple juices.
Choose when: You want a no-added-sugar apple drink that needs no dilution and whose unopened pack permits cool, dry storage.
Bear in mind: The Tesco and Growers Harvest examples contain sucralose and both require refrigeration after opening, according to Tesco Groceries.
Choose when: An ingredients list without sweeteners matters more to you than choosing a no-added-sugar-labelled juice drink.
Bear in mind: Copella and Tropicana each list 10g sugars per 100ml; Tesco Groceries says its Copella product must be kept refrigerated.
Choose when: You have dependable drinking water and somewhere convenient to mix a concentrate.
Bear in mind: Marks & Spencer’s Apple and Elderflower High Juice needs dilution and lists sucralose and sulphites.
| Priority | What to check | Your needs |
|---|---|---|
| Sugars and sweeteners | Read both the ingredients and the sugars figure per 100ml. Check whether a no-added-sugar drink contains a sweetener; Tesco Groceries lists sucralose in its Tesco and Growers Harvest examples. | I want to avoid added sugar, but I may also want to avoid sweeteners. The front-of-pack claim alone does not answer both questions. |
| Storage | Check unopened storage conditions and the separate instructions after opening. Tesco Groceries permits cool, dry unopened storage for its two juice drinks but requires refrigeration once opened. | Without a cool box, I need a pack I can store as instructed before opening and a plan for any drink left over. |
| Water access | Check whether the drink is ready to drink or concentrated. Marks & Spencer describes its Apple and Elderflower High Juice as a concentrate, so allow for drinking water and a clean cup or bottle. | If getting water and mixing a drink will be awkward, I would rather take a ready-to-drink pack. |
| Pack and portion size | Compare the pack size with how much you can finish or share after opening. The NHS advises a combined limit of 150ml a day for fruit juice, vegetable juice and smoothies. | I want portions that work for my group without leaving an opened carton that needs refrigeration. |
The label does not tell you the total sugars figure or whether a sweetener is present. Tesco Groceries lists sucralose in its no-added-sugar Tesco and Growers Harvest drinks.
Read the ingredients and the sugars row per 100ml, then decide which matters more for your choice.
An unopened pack’s storage instructions may no longer apply after opening. Tesco Groceries requires refrigeration for its Tesco and Growers Harvest drinks; Marks & Spencer says its Apple and Blackcurrant Juice Drink must be refrigerated and consumed within 24 hours of opening.
Check the exact pack instructions and choose a size you can share or finish if refrigeration will not be available.
Marks & Spencer’s Apple and Elderflower High Juice is a concentrate, not a ready-to-drink apple juice.
Choose it only if you will have drinking water and a clean container for mixing; otherwise consider a sealed ready-to-drink option.
The NHS advises limiting fruit juice, vegetable juice and smoothies to a combined 150ml a day.
Check the pack volume against the servings you intend to pour, especially if several people will share it.
Tesco Groceries lists a 1L no-added-sugar apple juice drink that can be stored in a cool, dry place before opening.
Tesco Groceries lists this 1L no-added-sugar apple juice drink in its long-life range.
Tesco Groceries lists Copella Cloudy Apple Juice as a 900ml juice that is not from concentrate.
Tropicana UK describes its Orchard Apple product as 100% pressed juice that is not from concentrate.
Marks & Spencer lists both a ready-to-drink Apple and Blackcurrant Juice Drink and an Apple and Elderflower High Juice concentrate with no added sugar.
The Joybuy option here is a ready-to-drink, portioned apple-and-blackcurrant soft drink rather than plain apple juice or a concentrate.
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Eight separate 200ml bottles offer ready-to-drink portions for a festival group. This is an apple-and-blackcurrant soft drink, not plain apple juice. Check the pack’s unopened storage instructions before relying on it for camping without refrigeration, and keep it refrigerated after opening.
No. Check the sugars figure per 100ml as well as the claim: fruit juice contains naturally occurring sugars, and a no-added-sugar drink may contain sweeteners. Tesco Groceries lists sucralose in its Tesco and Growers Harvest drinks; Tesco Groceries and Tropicana UK each list 10g sugars per 100ml for their respective pressed apple juices.
Yes, if that particular pack permits it. Tesco Groceries instructs shoppers to store its Tesco and Growers Harvest no-added-sugar apple juice drinks in a cool, dry place before opening; its Copella Cloudy Apple Juice instead says to keep refrigerated. Check the pack you buy.
Follow the individual pack’s opened-storage instructions rather than its unopened-storage wording. Tesco Groceries says its Tesco and Growers Harvest drinks must be refrigerated and consumed within five days of opening; Marks & Spencer gives its Apple and Blackcurrant Juice Drink a 24-hour window after opening, also with refrigeration. Without a cool box, choose an amount you can finish or share.
It can be, provided you check the particular juice’s ingredients. Tesco Groceries lists apple juice and ascorbic acid for Copella, and Tropicana UK lists the same ingredients for Orchard Apple, with no sweetener listed in either. Both sources list 10g sugars per 100ml for those juices, so the ingredient choice is separate from the sugars figure.
The NHS advises limiting fruit juice, vegetable juice and smoothies to a combined 150ml a day; that amount counts as one portion of 5 A Day. Check the volume of a bottle or carton if you plan to pour several servings at camp.