The Perfect Bite: What brand of orange juice is the healthiest?

Orange juice is often praised for its immune-system boosting, cold-crushing strengths. But not every glass of OJ is good for you – and sometimes, it’s hard to tell the difference between a fresh-squeezed juice and one chock-full of refined sugar or artificial sweeteners.

Today on The Perfect Bite, host Andrea Jenner chats with Alissa Hamilton, author of “Squeezed: What You Don’t Know About Orange Juice.” They taste test five popular brands and Alissa gives tips on how to spot a truly healthy orange juice.

WINNER - Treehugger Premium Organic – Pulp-Free

It turns out that the healthiest OJ was the least desirableness in terms of taste for both Andrea and Alissa.

Andrea is put off by the sour taste when she takes a sip, and Alissa agrees that it’s sour at first but then the taste transforms to something almost sickly sweet.

Minute Maid Premium Original – Frozen Concentrated

Right away, Andrea picks up on the pulpy taste of this blend.

“I like the texture of the pulp, definitely,” she says.

Alissa notes that this juice has a strong taste.

“If you eat the peel of an orange, it kind of has a strongish flavour like that,” she says. Also noting, "When I hear ‘original,’ I think fresh squeezed and straight from the orange. No, not the case.”

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No Name 100% Pure Orange Juice – Pulp-Free

Both of our taste testers agree this orange juice is at the bottom of their list.

"It doesn’t really taste like orange juice so much,” says Andrea. “I always used to have this distinction between headache olives and salty olives…this is like a headache orange juice. It doesn’t have the zing.”

Tropicana Pure Premium – No Pulp Original (Alissa’s favourite)

OJ expert Alissa is impressed by the taste of this blend.

“It tastes the most like fresh-squeezed,” she says, noting that it’s actually not fresh-squeezed at all. “It’s got a balance. It’s got a kind of sourness but it’s definitely sweet.”

But she notes that just because something is labeled “Premium” doesn’t always mean it’s good for you.

“Premium suggests a fresher, higher quality juice and you pay more for that,” she says. “But in fact, it’s used mostly for juice that’s called not from concentrate, which is much more expensive to store.”

“And so, in order to convince consumers to pay more for the product they have to come up with some kind of marketing strategy, and premium is a good word to use.”

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PC 100% Florida orange juice – Pulp Free

The last choice doesn’t really win Andrea and Alissa over, but Andrea notes that it’s by far the sweetest tasting. While Alissa thought the Tropicana juice has the best taste, she says it’s not the best choice if you’re looking for fresh-squeezed.

“This looks like a fresh-squeezed, with the orange and the straw punctured into it (on the package), but it’s best before date is a month away, so it’s definitely not fresh-squeezed juice.”

She says that if you’re looking for a true fresh-squeezed OJ, check the expiration date carefully – most fresh juices don’t last anymore than a couple of days.

And surprisingly enough, the taste you like in many cases isn’t even real.

“Juice companies add flavor packs to the juice, because during the processing, whether it’s from not from concentrate or from concentrate, the flavour is lost,” Alissa explains. “The take home message is the flavor that you like in a particular brand, for the big ones, the taste that you like is this flavour pack that is engineered.”