Choose chilled 100% orange juice if you want pure juice without added sugar; the Tropicana and innocent examples still contain naturally occurring sugars and need refrigeration. Choose orange high juice when a concentrate to dilute at home suits you better, or a small juice drink when portability matters more than fruit content. Check the fruit percentage, ingredients and nutrition figures for the drink as prepared before treating these formats as interchangeable.
For a top-up shop, start with how you plan to serve the drink: straight from the carton, diluted at home or packed to take out.
Look for 100% orange juice if that is the drink you want. A no-added-sugar statement does not mean the juice has no sugars: compare the nutrition panel and check its refrigeration and after-opening instructions.
Orange high juice is a concentrate to dilute rather than a ready-to-drink 100% juice. Check the fruit percentage, preparation directions and sweeteners before choosing it in place of a juice carton.
A juice drink may fit a portable-drink purchase, but its fruit content can differ substantially from pure juice. For example, Sainsbury's lists 8% fruit juice in its Fruit Slurps orange juice drink; check the current pack and stock before relying on that particular multipack.
Choose the format first, then read the fruit content and nutrition figures on the basis of the drink you will actually serve.
Choose when: You want ready-to-drink pure orange juice rather than an orange-flavoured drink.
Bear in mind: No added sugar does not remove fruit sugars, and an opened carton has a stated period for use.
Choose when: You want a concentrate to dilute into drinks at home.
Bear in mind: It is not pure juice; the Sainsbury's and M&S examples contain sweeteners.
Choose when: A ready-to-drink small carton matters more to you than buying 100% juice.
Bear in mind: Check the fruit percentage and sweeteners; a juice drink need not match pure juice.
| Priority | What to check | Your needs |
|---|---|---|
| Drink type | Read the product name, fruit percentage and dilution directions. Waitrose & Partners lists Tropicana Pure Smooth and innocent Pure Smooth as 100% orange juice; Sainsbury's lists 50% fruit juice in its orange high juice and 8% in Fruit Slurps. | I want to know whether I am buying pure juice, a concentrate or a ready-to-drink juice drink. |
| Sugars | Check sugars per 100ml and per stated serving. Waitrose & Partners lists 8.6g per 100ml for Tropicana Pure Smooth and 7.8g per 100ml for innocent Pure Smooth. Sainsbury's lists 2.4g per prepared 250ml serving of its high juice, diluted one part concentrate to four parts water. | A no-added-sugar label matters to me, but I also want to see the sugars in the drink I will pour. I would not compare diluted squash with undiluted juice as though they were the same product. |
| Ingredients | Read the current ingredient and allergen information. Sainsbury's lists acesulfame K, sucralose and sulphites in its orange high juice; M&S lists sucralose and sulphites in its Mediterranean Orange High Juice. | If sweeteners or sulphites matter to me, the no-added-sugar wording alone will not answer that question. |
| Storage | Check refrigeration and after-opening directions. Waitrose & Partners says to use the Tropicana Pure Smooth carton within five days of opening and the innocent Pure Smooth carton within four days. | For a small top-up shop, I need a carton size I can use within its stated opened life. |
| Juice portion | For fruit juice, vegetable juice and smoothies, the NHS advises a combined limit of 150ml a day and says to have them at mealtimes. It says 150ml counts only once towards 5 A Day. | If I am buying pure juice, I want to plan portions rather than assume a larger carton counts as more daily fruit-and-vegetable portions. |
Pure juice still contains naturally occurring sugars. Waitrose & Partners lists 8.6g sugars per 100ml for Tropicana Pure Smooth and 7.8g per 100ml for innocent Pure Smooth.
Read the sugars line as well as the front-of-pack wording, and compare figures using the same volume or stated serving.
Sainsbury's orange high juice is a concentrate diluted one part to four parts water; the Tropicana and innocent examples are ready-to-drink 100% juices. Their nutrition figures describe different prepared drinks.
Decide which format you want, then use the stated dilution and serving information when comparing labels.
Sainsbury's lists acesulfame K, sucralose and sulphites in its orange high juice. M&S lists sucralose and sulphites in its Mediterranean Orange High Juice.
Check the current pack's ingredient and allergen information if either affects your choice.
Waitrose & Partners gives five days after opening for Tropicana Pure Smooth and four days for innocent Pure Smooth. The NHS advises limiting the combined daily amount of fruit juice, vegetable juice and smoothies to 150ml.
Check whether the household is likely to use the carton within its stated opened life without increasing juice portions simply to finish it.
Juice left beyond the stated opened life may go to waste.
These examples illustrate the formats on offer; check the particular product rather than assuming every drink from a brand has the same ingredients.
The Pure Smooth example is a chilled, ready-to-drink 100% orange juice.
Pure Smooth is another chilled 100% orange juice example, rather than a drink for dilution.
Its orange high juice and Fruit Slurps juice drink illustrate two alternatives to a chilled 100% juice carton.
Mediterranean Orange High Juice is a no-added-sugar concentrate, not ready-to-drink pure juice.
This orange squash is an option for making a no-added-sugar drink at home. It is a concentrate to dilute, not a chilled 100% orange juice or a ready-to-drink small carton.
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This 1L orange squash suits making drinks by dilution at home rather than buying ready-to-drink orange juice.
Do not drink it undiluted. Check the current pack for preparation directions and for sweeteners and sulphites if those ingredients matter to you.
No. The wording does not remove sugars naturally present in fruit. Waitrose & Partners lists 8.6g sugars per 100ml for Tropicana Pure Smooth and 7.8g per 100ml for innocent Pure Smooth, both described as having no added sugar.
No. Sainsbury's and M&S each list 50% fruit juice in the high-juice examples, which are concentrates for dilution and contain sweeteners. The Tropicana and innocent examples are ready-to-drink 100% orange juices.
The NHS says 150ml of fruit juice, vegetable juice or smoothie counts only once in a day. It advises limiting their combined amount to 150ml daily, rather than counting each glass as another portion.
The NHS advises having juices and smoothies at mealtimes rather than between meals because juicing releases sugars that can damage teeth.
Start with the drink type and fruit percentage, then check sugars for the stated serving, whether dilution is required, and the ingredients. If buying a chilled carton, also read its refrigeration and after-opening instructions.