# "Juice" With Added Corn Syrup or Sugar **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** soda-softdrinks\ **Created:** [August 28, 2019, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/juice-with-added-corn-syrup-or-sugar/839374 "2019-08-28T19:28:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Max\_S](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/46a35a/32.png) [@Max\_S](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_S)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2019, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/juice-with-added-corn-syrup-or-sugar/839374/1 "2019-08-28T19:28:18Z")
I like real juice. I even like juice from concentrate. Unfortunately, Most “juices” I see at the market are water and corn syrup or cane sugar with 15% or less actual juice. I don’t like those. I’m not even talking about Kool-Aid®. Things like Simply® Watermelon Juice Drink contain only 11% juice. It doesn’t taste _nearly_ as good as pure watermelon juice. Ocean Spray® Original Cranberry Juice Cocktail is something like 30% juice, and I think it is inferior to their 100% juice blend. In my humble opinion, these faux-juices are too phlegmy. I like some phlegmy foods (like grilled okra) but not my drinks. Often enough I am left with a film of sickeningly sweet sugar coating my teeth, which I don’t like because it makes me feel unclean. So I’ll end up repeatedly running my tongue over my teeth and clearing my throat all afternoon. Drinking juice with added syrup doesn’t actually quench my thirst either. I just keep wanting to drink more, probably because of the sugar, which isn’t really healthy. I could keep drinking more “juice” until I get full, but even then I am still thirsty and have to drink water. 😕 What do you dopers think about juices with added corn syrup or sugar? ~Max ---
**Author:** ![ethelbert](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/958977/32.png) [@ethelbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ethelbert)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2019, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/juice-with-added-corn-syrup-or-sugar/839374/2 "2019-08-28T20:15:05Z")
While I certainly agree that “juices” with added corn syrup or sugar are worse than natural juices, I haven’t made the comparison recently because I avoid all of them. If I want fruit, I eat a piece of fruit. If I am thirsty, I drink water. It seems to me that you can avoid a great deal of sugar simply by not drinking juice or soda and if you think juice is better than soda, I think you are kidding yourself. If you are not concerned about avoiding sugar, then drink what you like and avoid the rest. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2019, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/juice-with-added-corn-syrup-or-sugar/839374/3 "2019-08-28T20:35:17Z")
Yeah, even drinking “pure” fruit juice you’re getting a LOT of sugar. My doctor recommends against fruit juices. I also drink water when I’m thirsty…it’s more thirst quenching without an aftertaste. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2019, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/juice-with-added-corn-syrup-or-sugar/839374/4 "2019-08-28T21:09:37Z")
There’s plenty of debate about whether or not HF Corn Syrup is less healthy than cane sugar, I’m not prepared to go there. But in my soda I do prefer the flavor of sugar vs HFCS. Considering the trivial cost of soda in general I can’t see HFCS being used as a cheaper alternative to sugar, there’s got to be something else going on. And yeah, just straight fruit juice is fine by me if that’s what I’m after. No need to make my grape juice taste like Crush soda. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2019, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/juice-with-added-corn-syrup-or-sugar/839374/5 "2019-08-28T21:19:46Z")
> [@Inigo\_Montoya](#): > > Considering the trivial cost of soda in general I can’t see HFCS being used as a cheaper alternative to sugar, there’s got to be something else going on. No, there really isn’t. They use whatever is cheapest at the time, which sometimes switches between the two options. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_S](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/46a35a/32.png) [@Max\_S](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_S)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2019, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/juice-with-added-corn-syrup-or-sugar/839374/6 "2019-08-28T22:15:28Z")
> [@ethelbert](#): > > It seems to me that you can avoid a great deal of sugar simply by not drinking juice or soda and if you think juice is better than soda, I think you are kidding yourself. Well, I don’t like the fizz unless it’s root beer on ice cream. > [@ethelbert](#): > > If you are not concerned about avoiding sugar, then drink what you like and avoid the rest. Which I do, usually. 🙂 ~Max ---
**Author:** ![Max\_S](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/46a35a/32.png) [@Max\_S](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_S)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2019, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/juice-with-added-corn-syrup-or-sugar/839374/7 "2019-08-28T22:18:04Z")
> [@carrps](#): > > Yeah, even drinking “pure” fruit juice you’re getting a LOT of sugar. My doctor recommends against fruit juices. I also drink water when I’m thirsty…it’s more thirst quenching without an aftertaste. I don’t substitute juice for water, it might be one glass with breakfast, brunch, _or_ dessert. Sometimes the juice _is_ breakfast/dessert. ~Max ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2019, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/juice-with-added-corn-syrup-or-sugar/839374/8 "2019-08-28T22:31:04Z")
**Moderator Action** Moving thread from IMHO to Cafe Society, our home for drink (and food) related questions and opinions. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_S](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/46a35a/32.png) [@Max\_S](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_S)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2019, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/juice-with-added-corn-syrup-or-sugar/839374/9 "2019-08-28T22:42:14Z")
> [@engineer\_comp\_geek](#): > > **Moderator Action** > > Moving thread from IMHO to Cafe Society, our home for drink (and food) related questions and opinions. Oh, I didn’t know that. Sorry! ~Max ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2019, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/juice-with-added-corn-syrup-or-sugar/839374/10 "2019-08-28T22:51:11Z")
Juice (even pure juice) has about the same sugar levels as pop, but it usually also has vitamins, and occasionally even a little bit of fiber. So in that sense, at least, it’s better. But yeah, you don’t want to make most of your fluid intake sugary. ---
**Author:** ![BwanaBob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bwanabob/32/2985_2.png) [@BwanaBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BwanaBob)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2019, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/juice-with-added-corn-syrup-or-sugar/839374/11 "2019-08-29T13:18:35Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > No, there really isn’t. They use whatever is cheapest at the time, which sometimes switches between the two options. I would think it’s not worth the bother of constantly monitoring prices (requires labor to do this) and ping-ponging between suppliers of cane sugar/HFCS depending on which way the wind blows (also requires different contracts/lawyers to set those up). Add the fact that this ping ponging is probably regional, so multiply those costs. Isn’t there a common sense point where the added profit is not worth the added labor required? Would you spend $1,000,000 to get back $1,001,000? At what percentage is this extra effort deemed “worth it”.