Juiced Out

All of us have heard many times that we should be consuming more fruits and vegetables.  According to Eating Well with Canada's Food Guide, Adults aged 19-50 should be consuming 7-10 servings of fruits and vegetables per day.  This may seem like a lot, but one serving can be as simple as 1/2 a cup of broccoli or 20 grapes.

Within these past few years, there has been an explosion of beverages marketed to the health-conscious consumer to help them consume their recommended number of servings of fruits and vegetables.  Below are examples of such beverages that are touted for being 100% natural, 100% delicious and loaded with vitamins and minerals. 

Since these drinks are made solely from "natural" ingredients, there's no such thing as drinking too much, right?  Well, that's the question that I came to ask myself a few weeks back when I went to pour myself a glass of Bolthouse Blue Goodness.  It came to my surprise that there was no longer a nutritional facts table on the bottle.  Instead, there was just a list of medicinal ingredients and their corresponding quantity.  The absense of a nutritional facts table may not mean much to most people, but if you research further, you would realize that this change only means one thing.  Yes, it means that the Bolthouse Blue Goodness is no longer just a Berry smoothie, but a Natural Health Product.   The new name on the bottle would also reveal this change:

 A quick glance at the bottle, and most people wouldn't realize that the subheading switched from stating "Fruit Smoothie" to "Vitamin Supplement."  So why is this product now classified as a Natural Health Product and what does this change have on consumers?

According to Health Canada's Natural Health Product's Regulations, the definition of a Natural Health Products (NHPs) has two components: function and substance.

The function component refers to the NHP definition capturing those substances that are manufactured, sold or represented for use in:

• the diagnosis, treatment, mitigation or prevention of a disease, disorder or abnormal physical state or its symptoms in humans;
• restoring or correcting organic functions in humans; or
• modifying organic functions in humans, such as modifying those functions in a manner that maintains or promotes health.

The substance component refers to the medicinal ingredient in a natural health product which includes:

• vitamins & minerals
• herbal remedies
• homeopathic medicines
• traditional medicines such as Chinese medicines
• probiotics and
• other products such as amino acids and essential fatty acids

In order for a product to be classified as a NHP, the manufacturer has to go through rigourous protocol, to meet Health Canada's standards.  NHPs are considered safe for consumers and do not require a presciption by a medical physican. 

Now that we have defined what a NHP is, what are the implications for consumers?  Well, for one thing, there are now Directions written on each bottle of Bolthouse Blue Goodness.  It reads,
Directions: Adults:  Take 1 cup (240ml) one time per day with food. 
Caution: People sesitive to nicotinic acid may experience flushing of the skin that is generally mild and transient. 

So what happens if a person drinks more than one cup a day?  Well please stay tuned for my next posting!

For now, I recommend everyone to drink these high-nutrient beverages in moderation!