If you cannot keep drinks chilled throughout the trip, choose a pack labelled for storage at room temperature before opening: long-life 100% orange juice is ready to drink, while orange squash needs water for dilution and juice drinks may contain less fruit. Check the ingredients and nutrition panel rather than relying on “no added sugar”; unsweetened juice still contains naturally occurring sugars, which the NHS counts as free sugars. Once a pack is open, follow its own refrigeration instructions.
An unopened long-life juice or orange squash labelled for storage at room temperature avoids relying on a cool box before opening. Check what the pack requires afterwards: room-temperature storage before opening does not extend to an opened carton or bottle.
Check the product name and ingredients to distinguish pure juice from a juice drink or squash. Then check whether that particular juice is long-life or must remain chilled throughout the trip.
No added sugar does not tell you the fruit percentage or mean sugar-free. Compare the sugars on the nutrition panel and look for sweeteners in the ingredients if you are deciding between pure juice, squash and juice drinks.
Decide first how you will store the drink, then whether you want 100% juice, a ready-to-drink juice drink or squash that needs diluting.
| Priority | What to check | Your needs |
|---|---|---|
| Storage | Read the instructions for both unopened and opened packs. Sainsbury's lists innocent Pure Orange Juice Smooth for refrigeration at 0–8°C; Ocado lists Tropicana Long Life Pure Smooth for cupboard storage before opening and refrigeration afterwards. | I cannot count on a cool box for the whole festival, so I need a drink that can be packed without chilling before it is opened. |
| Drink type | Check the product name, fruit percentage and ingredients. The Tesco and ASDA high-juice examples contain 50% fruit juice from concentrate and sweeteners; they are not 100% orange juice. | If I want pure orange juice, a no-added-sugar claim on a squash or juice drink will not make it the same product. |
| Preparation | Look for a dilution instruction and plan the water and container it requires. Tesco and ASDA specify one part high juice to four parts water; ready-to-drink juice needs no mixing. | With limited drinking water or washing-up space, I would rather open a ready-to-drink pack than prepare squash. |
| Ingredients and sugars | Compare sugars per 100ml and the amount you intend to pour; read the sweetener and allergen information on the current pack. According to the NHS, naturally occurring sugars in unsweetened juice count as free sugars. | I want to know what is in the drink, including whether it contains sweeteners or sulphites, rather than judging it by “no added sugar” alone. |
Pure orange juice contains naturally occurring sugars; no-added-sugar squash and juice drinks may instead contain sweeteners and a lower proportion of fruit.
Check the product name, ingredients and nutrition panel. The NHS advises limiting fruit juice and smoothies to a combined 150ml a day.
The Food Standards Agency advises keeping food that needs chilling below 5°C when camping and warns that a cool box is unlikely to keep it chilled for an extended period. A chilled juice also has its own pack temperature instructions.
Take chilled juice only if you can maintain its required storage temperature throughout transport and camping. Otherwise, choose an unopened pack labelled for storage at room temperature and follow its instructions after opening.
The Tesco and ASDA high-juice examples require one part concentrate to four parts water. They cannot replace a ready-to-drink pack if you have no water and container for mixing.
Check the dilution directions before packing, and bring sufficient drinking water and a clean container if you choose concentrate.
The Tesco, ASDA and M&S high-juice examples list sweeteners and sulphites or sodium metabisulphite. Their no-added-sugar wording does not describe the full ingredient list.
Read the current pack’s ingredients and allergen information, particularly if someone in your group needs to avoid sulphites or wants a drink made only from orange juice.
These examples show why the storage and ingredient details of a particular product matter more than the brand name alone.
Ocado describes Tropicana Long Life Pure Smooth as a cupboard-storable, ready-to-drink 100% orange juice with no added sugar.
Sainsbury's describes innocent Pure Orange Juice Smooth as 100% orange juice with no added sugar.
Tesco No Added Sugar High Juice Orange is a concentrate made with 50% fruit juice from concentrate.
ASDA lists both a 50% fruit high juice for dilution and an ambient 200ml orange juice drink containing 8% orange juice from concentrate.
Sainsbury's own-label Fruit Slurps Orange Juice Drink is a long-life juice drink with 8% fruit juice from concentrate.
M&S Mediterranean Orange High Juice contains 50% fruit juice from concentrate and is a concentrate rather than pure orange juice.
These options cover an orange squash for mixing at camp and individually packed orange juice drinks. Check their labels if a no-added-sugar claim or 100% orange juice is essential to your choice.
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Consider this squash if you can bring drinking water and a container for mixing. It lists 10% orange fruit from concentrate, sweeteners and sulphites; it is not ready-to-drink 100% juice. Store it in a cool, dark, dry place before opening, then refrigerate and consume within four weeks after opening. Check the pack for its dilution directions.
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The individual pouches suit a trip where opening a shared bottle is inconvenient. This is an orange juice drink, not pure juice: the listed formulation contains 8% fruit juices from concentrate and sucralose, with 0.6g sugars per 100ml on its nutrition panel. The pack is listed for cool, dry storage; check its label for a no-added-sugar claim and instructions for an opened pouch. Its straw carries a choking-hazard warning for children under three.
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This pack is another individually portioned option for camp. The listed drink contains 8% fruit juices from concentrate and sucralose, and its nutrition panel states 0.6g sugars per 100ml; “Zero” in the name should not be read as sugar-free. It is listed for cool, dry storage. Check the pack for a no-added-sugar claim and opened-pouch instructions, and note the stated straw choking hazard for children under three.
No. Unsweetened orange juice contains naturally occurring sugars, which the NHS counts as free sugars. Read the sugars value on the nutrition panel as well as the ingredients: a no-added-sugar juice, a sweetener-containing juice drink and a squash can have different compositions.
Only if you can keep that product at its required temperature throughout the trip. The Food Standards Agency warns that a cool box is unlikely to keep chilled food cold for an extended period; the innocent Pure Orange Juice Smooth example requires storage at 0–8°C. Otherwise, choose an unopened drink labelled for storage at room temperature.
Not if its instructions require refrigeration. Ocado lists Tropicana Long Life Pure Smooth for cupboard storage before opening, but says to refrigerate it after opening and consume it within 5 days. Check the instructions on the carton you buy.
Read the product name, fruit percentage, ingredients and any dilution directions. The Tropicana long-life example is 100% orange juice; the Tesco and ASDA high-juice examples are 50% fruit-juice concentrates that need water; ASDA’s ambient 200ml juice drink contains 8% orange juice from concentrate.
The NHS advises limiting fruit juice and smoothies to a combined maximum of 150ml a day because their naturally occurring sugars count as free sugars. Plan drinking water separately rather than treating juice as your main campsite drink.