HEALTH NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 3882, 7 August 1928, Page 16

HEALTH NOTES.

FRUIT JUICES.

CORDIALS AND BEVERAGES.

Contributed by the Department of Health

The principal object of this article is to draw attention to, and offer a guide in, purchasing the numerous beverages offered to the public either as “ soft drinks ” ready for consumption, or in a form requiring dilution. With the coming of the warmer weather there will be no doubt the usual offering of a wide variety of names, attractive labels, and multi coloured mixtures.

Beverages may be obtained in three forms: (a) Cordials prepared for dilution with water; (b) carbonated drinks bottled ready for consumption; (c) “ concentrated ” liquids and “ crystals ” sold to be made up in the home with sugar and water to make cordials ready for dilution as required. Each of these three general classes is in turn sub-divided, and the varieties must be labelled according to the kind of materials used in their manufacture. Cordials mav be labelled either “ pure fruit,’’ “ flavoured ” or “ artificial.” It will be obvious that there is nothing superior to a pure fruit cordial. There is ample evidence of the healthgiving value of fruit juicos. The regulations require that only sugar, wa'ccr and preservative may be added to the fruit juices if they are sold as pure fruit cordials or syrups. “ Flavoured ” cordials are usually made from essences derived from fruits, but it is not difficult to imagine that in making essences either from fruit skins or juices, or both skins and juices, there must be an absence of that certain yet indefinable “ life ” quality that exists in the juice before it has passed through the various processes of manufacture. Essences rre so much unlike original juice that it is necessary to permit the addition of artificial colour in order to make a present-able-looking article. The third phase is the “ artificial cordial.” Although it cannot be shown conclusively that it has harmful effects there is no useful evidence that can be assembled in its defence. To place before children such drinks as, say, artificial raspberry cordial, is like sitting the children in a draught between an open door and window, and asking them to imagine they are naving a motor drive. CARBONATED DRINKS.

To pass now to the drinks bottled ready for immediate use. These may be made in the same degrees as cordials, i.e., “ pure,” “ flavoured,” and “ artificial,” but of course are diluted to a greater degree with water for ready use. None of the pure grade—that is drinks made direct from the fruit—have been observed on sale. An example would be a lemon squeezed, juice sweetened and watered and then bottled. The great proportion of these drinks will be found to be labelled “ flavoured.” They are made from essences. In some cases, such as making lemon and orange essences, only the oil from the skin is used. There is no addition to the juice. Consequently citric acid or tartaric acid must be used in order to give the drink the necessary acidity in its flavour. Colour is also added for the sake of appearance. However, the drinks in this class make quite presentable and wholesome beverages assisted by the effervescence of the carbonated water with which they are made, but, owing to the forced flavour and excessive sweetness in many cases, their thirst-quenching properties are often nullified.

Once again reference must be made to artificial beverages in this class. They have nothing to commend them.

CONCENTRATED ESSENCES.

Come now to the small medicine bottles filled with so-called “ concentrated ” essences for making beverages in the home. These are simply a mixture of citric or tartaric acid, colouring matter, and flavouring essence to which you add your own sugar and water. Sometimes a gummy substance is used in order to hold the ingredients together or perhaps to make the mixture look thicker in support of its claim to be concentrated. If the flavouring essence is claimed to be a genuine fruit derivative the mixture may be described as for making flavoured .drinks, but if the flavouring is an artificial ether, chemically concocted, the word “ artificial ” must appear on the label for the mixture. Summed up, any cordial or beverage sold under the heading of “ pure fruit” has everything to commend it; if described as “ flavoured,” although the flavouring agent once may have been in the fruit, its arrival at the stage for use in the mixture has been by devious paths in traversing which many of its pristine qualities may have been destroyed—so much so that in many cases it would be difficult to prove that it had ever seen fruit. Finally, in the ” artificial ” class any such beverage with a f'uit name should not be assumed to have any of the ’•tues associated with fruit, or that it is of any greater value than a drink of sweetened water.