# Why is fruit punch always red? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 24, 2011, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-fruit-punch-always-red/572450 "2011-02-24T14:48:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2011, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-fruit-punch-always-red/572450/1 "2011-02-24T14:48:55Z")
Commercially sold fruit punch is a deep bright red 99% of the time. Think Hawaiian Punch. Why? Is it just the way the colors of the ingredients mix together? ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2011, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-fruit-punch-always-red/572450/2 "2011-02-24T14:57:33Z")
Consumer expectations. ETA: I’m pretty sure that red color is added and not natural. > [@hawaiianpunch.com](#): > > [light hawaiian punch](http://www.hawaiianpunch.com/text_only/nutlight_ing.html)WATER, HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP AND 2% OR LESS OF EACH OF THE FOLLOWING: CONCENTRATED JUICES (PINEAPPLE, ORANGE, PASSIONFRUIT AND APPLE), PUREES (APRICOT, PAPAYA, GUAVA), CITRIC ACID, NATURAL AND ARTIFICIAL FLAVORS, PECTIN , GUM ACACIA, SUCRALOSE (SPLENDA ® BRAND), GLYCEROL ESTER OF WOOD ROSIN, SODIUM HEXAMETAPHOS-PHATE, **RED 40** , BLUE 1, POTASSIUM SORBATE (PRESERVATIVE), ASCORBIC ACID (VITAMIN C). ---
**Author:** ![Todderbob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e47774/32.png) [@Todderbob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Todderbob)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2011, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-fruit-punch-always-red/572450/3 "2011-02-24T14:58:19Z")
Why is Coca Cola brown? Same reason, they make it that way. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2011, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-fruit-punch-always-red/572450/4 "2011-02-24T14:59:34Z")
Yes, but why do consumers expect it to be red? It’s got to come from somewhere. ---
**Author:** ![Heyoka13](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Heyoka13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heyoka13)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2011, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-fruit-punch-always-red/572450/5 "2011-02-24T15:01:21Z")
Fortunately, poo and Coca Cola are brown because of different chemicals. (I learned everything I need to know from Cecil) ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2011, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-fruit-punch-always-red/572450/6 "2011-02-24T15:02:49Z")
> [@DCnDC](#): > > Yes, but why do consumers expect it to be red? It’s got to come from somewhere. Because whoever marketed the first successful fruit punch made it red. Either by accident or through consumer tests. Since then everybody else just copied them. ---
**Author:** ![Skara\_Brae](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f0a364/32.png) [@Skara\_Brae](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skara_Brae)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2011, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-fruit-punch-always-red/572450/7 "2011-02-24T15:03:43Z")
This reminded me of a Jay Leno joke upon hearing of Diet Hawaiian Punch - “What is it? Just straight Red Dye #5?” What is the main “fruit” taste in the punch? Maybe it was mostly strawberry, rasberry, and apple, and people just associate red with those tastes? ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2011, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-fruit-punch-always-red/572450/8 "2011-02-24T15:05:13Z")
> [@Omar\_Little](#): > > Because whoever marketed the first successful fruit punch made it red. Either by accident or through consumer tests. Since then everybody else just copied them. Fair enough. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2011, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-fruit-punch-always-red/572450/9 "2011-02-24T15:38:51Z")
It isn’t. There are plenty of jokes in Utah about Green Punch, the preferred color for fruit punch out there, for some reason. Hawaiian Punch has been red since at least the early 1960s, as has been one of the biggest brands, so it certainly has had a big influence on the field, but I see lots of non-red fruit punches on my supermarket shelves, especially ones that want to differentiate themselves from the herd. ---
**Author:** ![Heyoka13](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Heyoka13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heyoka13)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2011, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-fruit-punch-always-red/572450/10 "2011-02-24T15:45:08Z")
A popular local punch recipe is called ‘Dishwater Punch’. It is primarily citrus in flavor, and frequently has a 1/2 gallon brick of lime sherbet floating in it for ‘effect’. It is a clear, frothy light green beverage. But yes, around here, if you are at a wedding reception, and they aren’t serving Dishwater Punch, it most likely will be red. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2011, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-fruit-punch-always-red/572450/11 "2011-02-24T15:58:44Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > It isn’t. There are plenty of jokes in Utah about Green Punch, the preferred color for fruit punch out there, for some reason. Growing up as a kid in Michigan, particularly at summer camp, we called that green stuff “bug juice” “Punch” was the red stuff Lemonade was either yellow or pink. Red might be the most common but it’s not the only color. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2011, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-fruit-punch-always-red/572450/12 "2011-02-24T16:01:54Z")
There are studies showing that food colored red is perceived as sweeter ([Sweetness - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sweetness) - scroll down to cognition). I’m also guessing that at least some of the fruits which are in, say, traditional Hawaiian Punch (or which the artificial flavoring mimics) have red juices. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2011, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-fruit-punch-always-red/572450/13 "2011-02-24T16:54:27Z")
> [@Mama\_Zappa](#): > > I’m also guessing that at least some of the fruits which are in, say, traditional Hawaiian Punch (or which the artificial flavoring mimics) have red juices. PINEAPPLE, ORANGE, PASSIONFRUIT, APPLE, APRICOT, PAPAYA, GUAVA While the meat of the fruit of some them is red, I’m not sure that any of those have red juice. ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2011, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-fruit-punch-always-red/572450/14 "2011-02-24T17:28:39Z")
The blood of their enemies? ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2011, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-fruit-punch-always-red/572450/15 "2011-02-24T17:31:57Z")
> [@BMalion](#): > > The blood of their enemies? “How about a nice Hawaiian Punch?” ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2011, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-fruit-punch-always-red/572450/16 "2011-02-24T17:32:46Z")
> [@BMalion](#): > > The blood of their enemies? I work in advertising; I used to have Hawaiian Punch as a client. We were doing focus groups with tweens (kids age 10-12) about Hawaiian Punch, and the moderator asked the kids to describe everything they could about Hawaiian Punch – the color, the taste, etc. One of the kids said (I swear, these were his actual, verbatim words): “It’s the color and smell of human blood.” :eek: ---
**Author:** ![fiddlesticks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddlesticks/32/18129_2.png) [@fiddlesticks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fiddlesticks)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2011, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-fruit-punch-always-red/572450/17 "2011-02-24T18:09:38Z")
“Juice” at McDonalds growing up was always orange. Don’t think it was brand name anything back then. I’m sure McDonalds sells a Coca-Cola juice brand nowadays. ---
**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:** [February 24, 2011, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-fruit-punch-always-red/572450/18 "2011-02-24T18:31:55Z")
Quoth **Broomstick** : > [@](#): > > Growing up as a kid in Michigan, particularly at summer camp, we called that green stuff “bug juice” At summer camps in northeast Ohio, bug juice was any made-from-concentrate sugar drink, regardless of color (or flavor, but let’s face it, all of them are basically sugar-flavored). Which, of course, we never diluted as much as we were supposed to, if at all. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2011, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-fruit-punch-always-red/572450/19 "2011-02-24T18:37:07Z")
There’s also purple stuff out there. Tastes like purple. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2011, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-fruit-punch-always-red/572450/20 "2011-02-24T18:49:32Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > “It’s the color and smell of human blood.” > > :eek: “Now if they could just get the taste and texture right …” [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-fruit-punch-always-red/572450.md?page=2)