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See the Naked Juice in this photo? I’ve been drinking it for years. It’s green and made from a mixture of apple juice, mango, spirulina, broccoli, wheat grass and more. I thought it was so healthy. Boy was I wrong.
My kids also love Naked Juice. I was always so thrilled when they would beg for a Naked Juice at the market rather than a candy bar. How could I say no? All that fresh, “natural” juice in one spot. I practically yelled “YES”. I knew it wasn’t organic, but it did the job.
Unfortunately, all of that Naked Juice love has come to a screeching halt. No more Naked Juice for our family.
I wasn’t going to write about this since my friend Katy over at Non-Toxic Kids [2] did such an eloquent job covering all the bases. But then I decided to try to reach a few more folks with this important information.
Let’s start at the very beginning. You may or may not know that Naked Juice is owned by PepsiCo, makers of Pepsi, Tostitos, Tropicana, Doritos and more.
A class-action lawsuit [3] was filed against Naked Juice for using genetically-modified ingredients (GMOs) [4] and synthetic substances in products that were marketed as “Non-GMO” and “All-Natural”.
Naked Juice denies it did anything wrong.
Naked Juice says [5]: ‘Naked juice and smoothies will continue to be labeled “non-GMO,” and until there is more detailed regulatory guidance around the word “natural” ―we’ve chosen not to use “All Natural” on our packaging.’
So that’s a bit of good news. They’ve removed the misleading “All-Natural” claim from their products.
Here are few allegations from the lawsuit against Naked Juice:
- Although the juice was labeled “All Natural”, Naked juice was found to contain three synthetic ingredients: fructooligosaccharides, fibersol-2 and inulin.
- Naked Juice was labeling its products as “Non-GMO” when, in fact, it knowingly used genetically-modified ingredients in its products (genetically modified soy).
What we can take away from the Naked Juice lawsuit
- ‘All Natural’ is an unregulated term that means nothing. Remember that next time you see ‘All Natural‘ on a product. Products labeled ‘All Natural’ can contain GMOs. Until we have legal guidelines surrounding the use of this term there’s nothing to enforce.
- If Naked Juice did in fact use GMOs while labeling their products GMO-free that’s clearly deceptive and misleading-and certainly not a company I want to support.
This is yet another reason to buy organic products when you can. Organic is a regulated term and there are clear guidelines for products meeting the organic standard.
If you’re interested in learning more about GMOs join a free virtual conference, GMOs: What You Need to Know, from July 27-30 with Stacy Malkan and leading scientists, farmers, medical doctors, business leaders, advocates and wellness experts to learn about the genetic manipulation of our food system, how to avid GMOs and why this matters for the health of your family and future generations. Sign up for FREE HERE.
Is there a Naked Juice alternative?
My kids were pretty upset when I told them no more Naked Juice. They asked about Odwalla as an alternative.
Unfortunately, Odwalla is owned by The Coca Cola Company. PepsiCo, Nestle USA, The Coca-Cola Co. and General Mills, among many others, secretly donated millions of dollars [6] to the GMA campaign to stop Washington Initiative 522, which would require the labeling of all products containing GMOs.
The best alternative: make your own smoothies [7] from scratch.
I know it’s challenging, but do you try to stay away from products made by these companies when you’re at the store?
Photo credit: thisisbossi [8] via photopin [9] cc [10]