Juice

It was evidently good enough for Gilligan and Robinson Crusoe. But is coconut water a healthy choice for people who aren't stranded on a deserted island? A longstanding treat in tropical regions across the globe, coconut water hit U.S. supermarkets a few years back and is now being marketed with a vengeance. Sometimes billed as nature's sports drink, the slightly sour beverage has also acquired a reputation for being able to improve circulation, slow aging, fight viruses, boost immunity, and reduce the risk of cancer, heart disease and stroke.

A federal administrative judge ruled that pomegranate juice maker Pom Wonderful used deceptive advertising when it implied its products could treat or prevent serious diseases and other medical conditions. Judge D. Michael Chappell upheld much of a 2010 Federal Trade Commission complaint against the Los Angeles company owned by Lynda and Stewart Resnick. The judge said in his decision issued Monday that Pom used "insufficient" evidence to back its claims that Pom products "treat, prevent or reduce the risk of heart disease, prostate cancer or erectile dysfunction.

A federal administrative judge ruled that pomegranate juice maker Pom Wonderful used deceptive advertising when it implied its products could treat or prevent serious diseases and other medical conditions. Judge D. Michael Chappell upheld much of a 2010 Federal Trade Commission complaint against the Los Angeles company owned by Lynda and Stewart Resnick. The judge said in his decision issued Monday that Pom used "insufficient" evidence to back its claims that Pom products "treat, prevent or reduce the risk of heart disease, prostate cancer or erectile dysfunction.

Strawberries & Creme Frappuchinos at Starbucks Corp.will no longer feature a splash of bug - the coffee giant is ditching the red dye made from crushed beetles. The tropical, cochineal insects were dried and then processed into a coloring product to give that rosy hue to the Frappuchinos, as well as strawberry banana smoothies, raspberry swirl cakes, birthday cake pops, mini doughnuts with pink icing and red velvet whoopee pie. The insects, often found in a woolly-looking mass that covers prickly pear cactuses in Latin America, are also commonly used to color fabrics and cosmetics.

The rotund, early ripening Hamlins and the yellowish, elongated Pineapples have all been picked. Soon it will be the Valencias' turn, and Mason G. Smoak plucks one of the smooth-skinned fruit from the tree and opens it with a serrated knife to see if it's ready. The orange, which gleams in the morning sun, is gorged with juice, and droplets explode into the air as Smoak cuts into the rind.

To many people, it's a health food. To others, it's simply soda in disguise. That virtuous glass of juice is feeling the squeeze as doctors, scientists and public health authorities step up their efforts to reduce the nation's girth. It's an awkward issue for the schools that peddle juice in their cafeterias and vending machines. It's uncomfortable for advocates of a junk-food tax who say they can't afford to target juice and alienate its legions of fans. It's confusing for consumers who think they're doing something good when they chug their morning OJ, sip 22-ounce smoothies or pack apple juice in their children's lunches.

More than 200 people in the U.S. and Canada have been made sick by salmonella traced to unpasteurized orange juice in the past month, U.S. health officials said in Atlanta. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said there had been 207 confirmed cases of illness since June 19, including 21 that required hospitalization. Most of the cases were in California, Oregon and Washington, the CDC said.

Orange juice prices, already at historical highs, are expected to climb further as production in Florida's hurricane-ravaged groves plunges. But it's not just shoppers who will be affected: Juice makers such as PepsiCo Inc.'s Tropicana Products and Coca-Cola Co.'s Minute Maid, which get the vast majority of their juice from Florida, are facing a profit squeeze from rising domestic prices and margin-killing tariffs on what they import from Brazil. The U.S.

The Food and Drug Administration said manufacturers of unpasteurized apple juice or apple cider now must warn consumers that such beverages could contain illness-causing microbes. All other unprocessed packaged fruit and vegetable juices must carry a warning by Nov. 5, the FDA said. To make it easier for companies to comply with the mandate, the FDA is allowing manufacturers to display warning signs where juices are sold, though they must include the warning on the package within one year.

PepsiCo Inc. agreed to buy Naked Juice Co. of Azusa to expand sales of natural-juice drinks and compete with Coca-Cola Co.'s Odwalla brand. Naked Juice makes 25 fortified drinks, including a pineapple-banana protein shake. The company has annual sales of more than $150 million, the companies said Tuesday. Terms of the deal weren't disclosed. PepsiCo acquired more healthful beverage and food companies including Stacy's Pita Chips in the last year to lure consumers shunning sugary sodas.

Mezze, La Cienega's new Mediterranean small-plates restaurant, is riding bar culture's current savory cocktail wave with a pickle-perfect drink called Deli Juice created by sous chef/mixologist Jonathan Whitener. Like a glass full of garnishes, Deli Juice combines celery, dill, cucumber and mustard with pickle juice and meaty gin for a finger-licking intoxicant that will have you begging for homestyle chips on the side. -- Deli Juice by Jonathan Whitener 1 slice smashed serrano pepper 4 slices of celery 2 dill leaves 5 slices of pickled cucumber 1/2 teaspoon whole grain mustard 1.75 ounces pickle juice 1.75 ounces gin 1/2 ounce fresh-squeezed lemon juice 1/3 ounce simple syrup Splash of soda Put all ingredients into a cocktail tin and shake aggressively five times; pour contents into a highball glass (do not strain)

Starbucks Coffee Co.'s foray into juice is bearing fruit (and vegetables), with its first Evolution Fresh store now open and selling “wholesome products” in Bellevue, Wash. The Seattle coffee giant, hoping for an entryway into the burgeoning healthful lifestyle industry, bought San Bernardino-based Evolution Fresh Inc. in November for $30 million . The juice company, created by Naked Juice founder Jimmy Rosenberg, uses fresh fruits and vegetables and employs a process called high-pressure processing that produces the juice without heat to retain more nutrients and flavors.

Trace levels of the fungicide carbendazim were discovered in domestic orange juice samples, the Food and Drug Administration reported Thursday. But the FDA said the levels pose no safety risk, and the orange juice will not be recalled. FDA spokeswoman Siobhan DeLancey said that most of the samples taken were from concentrated products that will be blended down into the orange juice consumers drink, so the low levels of carbendazim will almost disappear. “We didn't have any evidence to indicate that the product on the market was any safety problem at all,” DeLancey said.

Nearly 14% of orange juice imported to the U.S. since early this month has been seized by the Food and Drug Administration because it contained trace amounts of a fungicide, carbendazim, according to the agency. FDA officials said the juice was safe to drink but that carbendazim, used to combat a fungus that leaves black spots on tree leaves, was not allowed in the U.S. "We don't feel that this is a safety problem," FDA spokeswoman Siobhan DeLancey said. "This is more of a regulatory issue.

Three orange juice samples tested by the U.S. government found no measurable amounts of a fungicide linked to liver tumors in animals, easing concern about a ban on imports that boosted prices to a four-year high. Twenty-eight samples were awaiting tests for the chemical carbendazim as of Jan. 12, with results due within three weeks, the Food and Drug Administration said in a statement on Jan. 13. Low levels of the fungicide aren't a health risk and no juice is being recalled, the FDA said.

Does the orange juice you're drinking have a fungicide in it? The Food and Drug Administration says orange juice on the market is safe to drink. The FDA says it has no plans to remove products from store shelves after some juice imported from Brazil was found to contain small amounts of the fungicide carbendazim. Coca-Cola Co. said Thursday that it was the company that alerted federal regulators to the fungicide in its orange juice and rival juices. The Food and Drug Administration says the levels of the chemical found by Coca-Cola are safe to drink, but that it is conducting its own tests.

Consumers in seven Western states should avoid drinking a brand of unpasteurized orange juice that may be contaminated with salmonella bacteria, the California Department of Health Services said Friday. A sample of juice produced by Sun Orchard Co. in Tempe, Ariz., is being investigated by California health officials and the federal Food and Drug Administration. There have been no reports of any illnesses in California associated with the juice, state officials said.

Drinking more than 12 ounces of fruit juice a day may make preschoolers fat or stunt their growth, a study published by the American Academy of Pediatrics in Chicago suggested. No single juice was implicated in the study of 168 healthy youngsters, but those who drank more than 12 ounces daily tended to be shorter or fatter than other preschoolers.

The U.S. temporarily halted shipments of imported orange juice from all countries and said it would destroy or ban products containing even low levels of a banned fungicide. The imports will be held while they're tested and may be sold if levels are below trace amounts, the Food and Drug Administration said Wednesday. The fungicide, linked in studies to a higher risk of liver tumors in animals, was found in trace amounts last month in products from Brazil, which produces almost 1 in 6 glasses of orange juice consumed in the U.S., according to CitrusBR, an export industry association.

Apparently "Hansen Natural" didn't have enough bite — the Corona beverage maker is changing its name to the more aggressive Monster Beverage Corp. Hansen makes a line of namesake juices as well as Admiral Iced Tea, Blue Sky energy drinks and Junior Juice. Its website features pastoral images of rolling hills and butterflies. The company that has cultivated a wholesome, feel-good image also owns the gritty Monster Energy drinks. The brand, which sponsors extreme sports events, features a neon-green triple-slash logo on beverage offerings such as Monster Rehab.