Last night I went to my friend's room and was greeted with a cup of pear chunks floating in a purple liquid. Del Monte's' Super Fruit antioxidant rich in vitamin C pear chunks plus acai and blackberry juice blend. Lauren and Brianna had bought it one day when at the grocery store because it "looked cool and was purple." I was both disgusted and intrigued. It proved to be, not surprisingly, pretty gross with the texture of a cooked apple and the taste of grape cough syrup.
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It left me wondering a few things:
1. Why put fruit in liquid? A good pear is a good pear.
2. Why is it the color of purple jello? Can something that color really be "100% natural"?
3. What are antioxidants? Who cares about vitamin C? Should we? Do we?
Recognizing the broadness of these questions, I set out to do a little research. I realized quickly that if this cup does provide the health qualities that a piece of fruit would, without too much added "stuff", then maybe it is a great option to pack in school lunches or to get children to eat fruit or to eat if you live in a neighborhood where access to quality, fresh fruit (like, let's say, a good pear) is limited.
From looking on Del Monte's website I found that they contain the following ingredients:
INGREDIENTS: PEARS, RECONSTITUTED JUICE BLEND (WHITE GRAPE JUICE, PEAR JUICE, BLACKBERRY JUICE), PRESERVATIVES (ASCORBIC ACID, POTASSIUM SORBATE, SODIUM BENZOATE), ACAI CLAIRIFIED JUICE, NATURAL FLAVOR, RED FRUIT EXTRACT (COLOR).
In all honestly, I only completely know what one ingredient is and that is "pears". What does it mean to be a "reconstituted juice blend" and what in the world is "acai clarified juice"? But hey there isn't any high fructose corn syrup and the nutrition label says it has 150% of your daily vitamin C! That's good, right?
Continuing my research I found that antioxidants are one of the best ways to keep your immune system strong and that they can be found in vitamin C. Acai clarified juice is acai berries that have been put through an enzymatic treatment. It says that acai berries are packed with antioxidants, plus loads of healthy Omega fats, protein and dietary fiber.
I think I will just be sticking with pears.
Del Monte's website: http://www.delmonte.com/products/detail.aspx?id=462&c=215.223
What are antioxidants? http://www.webmd.com/food-recipes/antioxidants-your-immune-system-super-foods-optimal-health
What are acai berries? http://www.ititropicals.com/acai-puree
2 comments:
I'm always suspicious when the labeling looks more like medicine than food.
I've had Del Monte fruit that is in the cups, and I do not like them. They do taste like cough syrup. They also have a weird after taste. Maybe it's just me, but that fruit did not sit well with my stomach. Also, we talked about canned and packaged fruit like this. You're supposed to consume the juice and the fruit because most of the nutrients are in the juice.#Foodforthought
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