# No Vitamin C in lemon juice? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 30, 2005, 10:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-vitamin-c-in-lemon-juice/314874 "2005-07-30T10:08:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Thin\_Lizzy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9a140/32.png) [@Thin\_Lizzy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thin_Lizzy)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2005, 10:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-vitamin-c-in-lemon-juice/314874/1 "2005-07-30T10:08:43Z")
I have a bottle of 100% lemon juice that says on the nutrition panel “Not a significant source of…Vitamin C…” WTF? ---
**Author:** ![Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/96bed5/32.png) [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patty_O_Furniture)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2005, 11:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-vitamin-c-in-lemon-juice/314874/2 "2005-07-30T11:50:33Z")
I’d like to see that label. What’s the brand? Can you take a picture of it? ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2005, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-vitamin-c-in-lemon-juice/314874/3 "2005-07-30T12:00:07Z")
> [@Thin Lizzy](#): > > WTF? Calm down. ---
**Author:** ![Eleusis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Eleusis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eleusis)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2005, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-vitamin-c-in-lemon-juice/314874/4 "2005-07-30T12:15:41Z")
What’s the serving size? One teaspoon probably isn’t very significant, but if you chugged the whole bottle… ---
**Author:** ![WotNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e19b73/32.png) [@WotNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WotNot)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2005, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-vitamin-c-in-lemon-juice/314874/5 "2005-07-30T12:32:45Z")
If it’s bottled lemon juice intended for use in cooking, it may be that it’s been pasteurised or something that would reduce the vitamin content. ---
**Author:** ![norinew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb9ed0/32.png) [@norinew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/norinew)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2005, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-vitamin-c-in-lemon-juice/314874/6 "2005-07-30T13:30:19Z")
My guess is along the lines of what **Eleusis** said; that is, since it’s intended for cooking, the quantity you use isn’t a significant source of _anything_ except that wonderful tarness. ---
**Author:** ![norinew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb9ed0/32.png) [@norinew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/norinew)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2005, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-vitamin-c-in-lemon-juice/314874/7 "2005-07-30T13:31:36Z")
:smack: Of course, if you want _tarness_ in your cooking, that’s probably a sign of some sort of vitamin deificiency. If you want tar **t** ness, otoh, that’s a good use of lemon juice. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2005, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-vitamin-c-in-lemon-juice/314874/8 "2005-07-30T13:33:18Z")
Considering the serving size is about 1 teaspoon, from all the info I could find online, a fresh lemon contains about 4-5% Vitamin C in one serving, and bottled lemon juice contains about 2% Vitamin C in a single serving. ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2005, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-vitamin-c-in-lemon-juice/314874/9 "2005-07-30T14:24:30Z")
Patty, they all say that. I’ve got a bottle of Kroger brand lemon juice, and that’s what it says. Thin Lizzy, the deal is that the FDA, in their labeling requirements, goes by “serving size”. One teaspoon of lemon juice does contain Vitamin C–but the amount of Vitamin C in a single teaspoon of lemon juice is so low that it’s officially considered to be “not nutritionally significant”, by which the Feds mean it doesn’t come anywhere near satisfying a person’s minimum daily requirement for Vitamin C. In other words, there’s just a smidgen of Vitamin C in each serving of one teaspoon, so the Feds require the manufacturer to spell it out explicitly that their product will not fulfill your daily need for Vitamin C. ---
**Author:** ![Phnord\_Prephect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/df705f/32.png) [@Phnord\_Prephect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phnord_Prephect)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2005, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-vitamin-c-in-lemon-juice/314874/10 "2005-07-30T15:29:52Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Considering the serving size is about 1 teaspoon, from all the info I could find online, a fresh lemon contains about 4-5% Vitamin C in one serving, and bottled lemon juice contains about 2% Vitamin C in a single serving. Uh… does this imply that I should seriously be eating twenty to twentyfive lemons a day?! Wow. I may have scurvy. I never eat that much lemon at one sitting. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![norinew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb9ed0/32.png) [@norinew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/norinew)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2005, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-vitamin-c-in-lemon-juice/314874/11 "2005-07-30T16:51:59Z")
> [@Phnord Prephect](#): > > Uh… does this imply that I should seriously be eating twenty to twentyfive lemons a day?! Only if lemons are your _only_ source of vitamin C. I mean, if you don’t consume any other citrus fruits, peppers, tomatoes and the like, I guess you’ll be needing some new lemon recipes, huh? ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2005, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-vitamin-c-in-lemon-juice/314874/12 "2005-07-30T16:56:04Z")
> [@Phnord Prephect](#): > > Uh… does this imply that I should seriously be eating twenty to twentyfive lemons a day?! > > Wow. I may have scurvy. I never eat that much lemon at one sitting. :eek: Or you can eat one bell pepper, which, depending on varietal, average at around 150% USRDA Vitamin C per serving (one pepper). ---
**Author:** ![Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/96bed5/32.png) [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patty_O_Furniture)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2005, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-vitamin-c-in-lemon-juice/314874/13 "2005-07-30T20:52:35Z")
> [@Eleusis](#): > > What’s the serving size? > > One teaspoon probably isn’t very significant, but if you chugged the whole bottle… About 2.5 mg vitamin C per teaspoon. Assuming [500 mg of vitamin C per liter](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lemon), and 1 liter ~ 202 teaspoons. Maybe a better question is why the makers of lemon juice felt it necessary to state that you shouldn’t expect to get much C from a serving of lemon juice. Does the label say the same thing about vitamin A? I wonder why they didn’t say that a serving size is a quarter of a cup (let’s make lemon chiffon pie!) that way they could say that you’ll get half your RDA of vitamin C from their product. Doesn’t seem any sneakier than coke tellimg me that a bottle of soda contains two servings so that they can cut all the fat and sugar numbers in half on their nutrition labels. ---
**Author:** ![SmackFu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/53a042/32.png) [@SmackFu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmackFu)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2005, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-vitamin-c-in-lemon-juice/314874/14 "2005-07-31T00:23:08Z")
Here are the relevant [FDA labelling guidelines](http://a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/2422/12feb20041500/edocket.access.gpo.gov/cfr_2004/aprqtr/21cfr101.9.htm): > [@](#): > > Alternatively, except as provided for in paragraph (f) of this section, if vitamin A, vitamin C, calcium, or iron is present in amounts less than 2 percent of the RDI, label declaration of the nutrient(s) is not required if the statement "Not a significant source of – (listing the vitamins or minerals omitted)’’ is placed at the bottom of the table of nutrient values. Presumably they were listing more than just Vitamin C, otherwise the alternate form would be longer than the normal form. ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2005, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-vitamin-c-in-lemon-juice/314874/15 "2005-07-31T16:43:51Z")
> [@](#): > > Maybe a better question is why the makers of lemon juice felt it necessary to state that you shouldn’t expect to get much C from a serving of lemon juice. What you’re missing is that the makers–and the FDA–felt it necessary to state that you shouldn’t expect to get much C from a serving of **this particular product.** You are overlooking the fact that bottled lemon juice is “reconstituted”, which means that it’s made up of lemon juice that has been cooked down to a concentrate (my bottle of Kroger lemon juice uses concentrate from Argentina and Mexico), and then had water added. Heat destroys Vitamin C, so the heat of cooking and pasteurization will destroy a lot of the Vitamin C in lemon juice. Thus, a teaspoon of RealLemon Reconstituted Lemon Juice is not the same thing, nutritionally, as a teaspoon of lemon juice from a freshly-squeezed lemon, and thus the Feds felt it necessary to inform consumers of this. ---
**Author:** ![Sloozen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e47c2d/32.png) [@Sloozen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sloozen)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2014, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-vitamin-c-in-lemon-juice/314874/16 "2014-05-20T20:19:22Z")
It contains 2% per teaspoon. There are 189 servings in my bottle. It does seem like it would be more but a teaspoon is not much. ---
**Author:** ![Sloozen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e47c2d/32.png) [@Sloozen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sloozen)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2014, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-vitamin-c-in-lemon-juice/314874/17 "2014-05-20T20:20:47Z")
Makes sense… ---
**Author:** ![Kimballkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5a626/32.png) [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2014, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-vitamin-c-in-lemon-juice/314874/18 "2014-05-20T20:23:03Z")
You do realize the question was asked and answered 9 years ago. ---
**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:** [May 20, 2014, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-vitamin-c-in-lemon-juice/314874/19 "2014-05-20T21:37:45Z")
Similarly, a can of cooking spray can be labeled as “zero Calories”, even though it’s essentially pure fat. ---
**Author:** ![dstarfire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dstarfire/32/5762_2.png) [@dstarfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dstarfire)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2014, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-vitamin-c-in-lemon-juice/314874/20 "2014-05-20T23:29:10Z")
You do realize zombies don’t actually need vitamins, don’t you? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-vitamin-c-in-lemon-juice/314874.md?page=2)