Fruit Juice Concentrate

What is fruit juice concentrate?

After fruit juice is pressed, most of the water in it is evaporated to produce a thick, syrupy concentrate. This process means the product takes up less space, is easier to transport and keeps for a long time. When it is to be used, water is added to turn it back into fruit juice.

A well-known traditional equivalent in Türkiye is pekmez (grape molasses), made by boiling down grape must. The concentrates most widely used in industry are apple, grape, pear and orange; apple and grape concentrates are preferred as sweeteners because of their relatively neutral taste.

Which products contain it?

• Fruit juices and nectars made from concentrate
• Baby and children's products labelled “no added sugar” or “sweetened with fruit”
• Fruit yoghurts, bars, jams and breakfast cereals
• Fruit drinks and sparkling fruit juice blends
• Some biscuits and snacks

Is it harmful? The scientific assessment

Fruit juice concentrate itself is not a toxic or synthetic substance. What makes it important is its sugar content: when the concentrate is made, the fibre is largely lost, leaving mostly fructose, glucose and sucrose.

The World Health Organization defines as free sugars not only sugars added to food but also the sugars naturally present in honey, syrups, fruit juices and fruit juice concentrates, and it recommends keeping free sugars below 10% of daily energy, and ideally below 5%. The sugar in whole fruit, however, does not fall under this definition, because it is absorbed more slowly within the fibre and cell structure.

So a product sweetened with concentrate is not meaningfully different for the body from a product containing the same amount of sugar. Some vitamins and minerals may be partly preserved, but the health effect of this difference is small.

Who should be careful?

• Parents of babies and young children: Children's products labelled “no added sugar” may be sweetened with fruit juice concentrate; it is important to check the amount of sugar in the nutrition table.
• People with diabetes: Concentrate affects blood sugar in a similar way to table sugar.
• People who care about dental health: Fruit juice sugars and acids can contribute to tooth decay just as much as sugar.

What to do when you see it on a label

When you see fruit juice concentrate, think of it as “a natural source of sugar”. 100% fruit juice reconstituted from concentrate is a better option than fruit drinks with added sugar; even so, whole fruit is always the best choice. When comparing products, looking at the “sugars” line in the nutrition table gives a more accurate picture than the ingredient list. For other sweeteners that should be assessed in a similar way, see the sugar and glucose-fructose syrup pages.