Hey guys! So today’s post is part of my “Real Facts about Food on Campus” bit, and will be about food facts about Booster Juice!
One of the most prevalent advertising techniques used by the food industry is appealing to consumers through health and nutrition. We’ve all seen the ads targeted towards all kinds of people – the strict dieters or the protective parents of the growing kids – all of which believe in making healthy life choices. And while it is not wrong to advertise using techniques based on health and nutrition, I encourage everyone to actively think about their own nutrition and lifestyle. Last year, in this post, I pointed out a few interesting facts about Tim Horton’s. This week, I will be taking a look at Canada’s largest juice and smoothie seller – Booster Juice.
The company has a healthy school lunch program, dedicated to “healthy catering to kids”. Many of us will remember the hot lunches we had in elementary, mostly consisting of pizza. Many lunch coordinators believe, and rightly so, that Booster Juice lunches are healthier alternatives to the old pizza lunches. Why do so many people presume that Booster Juice is so healthy? As we compare Booster Juice smoothies to other drinks like iced cappuccinos, we associate the smoothies to be “healthy” even though it’s not the best way to obtain your daily serving of fruit. Many people believe that Booster Juice is a healthy choice for a meal or snack because of the relative lack of added sugar, large servings of fruit and low amount of fat in their smoothies.
Booster Juice smoothies are made from pure fruit juice, frozen fruit, a protein powder, and sorbet. A 355mL serving of the original strawberry smoothie contains 192 calories, 0.2g of fat, 0.05g of saturated fat, 38g of sugar, and a 110% daily intake of vitamin C. Booster Juice boasts about the nutritional value of their smoothies, but a regular serving of the original smoothie contains just as much sugar as a soft drink of the same size. If you ordered the large size of 710mL, it would contain 384 calories, 76g of sugar and 221% of vitamin C! Booster Juice argues that their calories are not empty calories since they don’t add sugar to their fruit juice. However, the only thing that makes natural fructose better than added sugar is that we find natural fructose with other nutrients in fruit. Actually, there is little point having over 200% of your daily sugar intake, be it strawberries or oranges! Too much sugar is never a good, and when we make the choice of a smoothie instead of fresh fruit, we still aren’t making the best choice.
Ultimately, believing that smoothies are healthy since they contain a large amount of fruit sometimes prevents us from choosing to grab a fresh orange, or having a healthy snack. Nonetheless, it is true that Booster Juice is a healthier alternative to many other fast foods. It is important to remember that while ads about nutrition may not misrepresent information, they are misleading. The only person that can make correct lifestyle choices to maintain your health is you.
All nutritional information is directly from Booster Juice’s website. Thanks for reading!
Much health to your hearts,
Julianne Mak