Juice labels can be misleading
Mother Camy Sleeman says she has to be a detective when shopping for juice for her kids.
"I think you really have to do your homework in terms of reading the labels and seeing what is within each bottle of juice you buy," she said.
Sleeman is not alone.
North Americans spend almost $6 billion a year on juice -- on everything from orange and apple to pomegranate.
To know if you're buying real juice, be sure to investigate the labels and the ingredients.
Letters from confused shoppers prompted Jamie Hirsh of Consumer Reports to take a closer look at juice labels to figure out if shoppers are getting the real deal.
Juice drinks sport all sorts of labels these days from "light juice," "juice beverage" and "juice cocktail," to name a few.
But some of these labels are misleading.
For starters, two labels to look out for so you don't get duped are "100 per cent juice" and "100 per cent pure."
"These (labels) mean that you're getting pure juice, but you still want to read the label," Hirsch explained.
"Often juices are actually a blend -- and a lot of times you'll see that apple or grape juice is actually the first ingredient. So you could end up getting more of these juices than the featured juice that you actually want."
If you see juice "cocktail," "beverage" or "drink," that's a red flag because these contain less than 100 per cent juice.
"These drinks can contain as little as five per cent juice," Hirsh said. "Water and sweeteners, like high fructose corn syrup, often make up the rest."
And what exactly is "light" juice?
"Some big juice companies, including Tropicana, Welch's and Ocean Spray have come out with 'light' versions of the juices, which they tout as having less sugar and few calories," Hirsh said. "These are often regular juices diluted with water."
Diluting your drinks is something you can do yourself -- and save money, too -- with 100 per cent real juice you have purchased.
As for 100 per cent juice products that are blended with apple or grape juice, customer-service representatives at Tropicana and Ocean Spray told Consumer Reports that grape and apple juice add sweetness and make cranberry and pomegranate less tart.
It looks like the Smart Car is also safe
When it tested the 2008 Smart Car, The American Insurance Institute for Highway Safety concluded that good things can come in small packages.
The Smart For Two vehicle earned top marks in side and front crash tests and earned the best possible rating of "good" for front and side impact protection.
The tiny vehicle also received an "acceptable" rating for whiplash protection from rear impacts.
This is good news for people who are looking for a "green car."
Mercedes-Benz, which makes the small vehicle, has made some big changes to the car over previous years.
The 2008 vehicle is a one litre, 70-horsepower gasoline engine that runs on premium fuel. Earlier versions were diesel. This change has improved performance, lowered the price, but the car does use more fuel.
Consumer Reports has found the diesel version -- with a 40-horsepower engine -- to be slow to accelerate from zero to 100 kilometres in 23 seconds. Compare that to the Mini Cooper, which achieved that feet in less than 10 seconds.
The diesel engine was also deemed to be noisy.
Time will tell what Consumer Reports will think of the new, gasoline-powered Smart Car.
The Smart For Two is the smallest car the IIHS has ever tested. The institute cautions that bigger and heavier is always better in terms of safety.
With a report from CTV British Columbia's Chris Olsen
