Most people realise that long-life juice contains extra ingredients that nature never intended. As it turns out, this includes traces of meat and alcohol. No really. Juice manufacturer Golden Circle recently admitted that it uses alcohol-based flavours and a clarifying agent derived from beef for its long-life juice range. Personally, when I order “cow juice” I expect to be served a glass of milk.
Golden Circle’s parent company Heinz was forced to come clean after a Hindu customer inquired whether its fruit drinks contained any ingredients that are prohibited under his religion. Heinz responded that none of the Golden Circle long-life juice range was suitable for him to drink due to either non-halal clarifying agents or alcohol based flavours.
“The clear apple juice used in the Golden Circle ambient juice and drink range is made clear using a variety of clarifying agents one of which is from a beef source and would not be halal suitable,” the company said in a statement.
“Flavours, including alcohol based flavours, are used across the Golden Circle and Original Juice Co. juice and drink ranges. Unfortunately none of the ambient Golden Circle juice range would be halal suitable as they are made using either non-halal clarifying agents or contain alcohol based flavours.”
Because the products meet Australian regulatory standards, the company is apparently under no obligation to declare the processing aids, or components of flavours on the list of ingredients. It also added that the alcohol content in its juices was “very small”, so don’t substitute your goon bag for OJ just yet.
In any event, you’re almost always better off eating fruits whole as the juicing process breaks down the fibres and removes much of the nutritional value. Plus, there’s less chance of picking up ungulate interlopers along the way.
Comments
8 responses to “Vegan/Teetotaller Warning: Some Long-Life Juices Contain Beef And Alcohol”
Did you mean to use a double negative when describing suitability?
Heinz responded that none of the Golden Circle long-life juice range was unsuitable due to either non-halal clarifying agents or alcohol based flavours.
Not quite sure why anyone with special dietary requirements would assume processed foods meet those requirements unless specifically stated?
There’s all sorts of ingredients derived from animal products that most people wouldn’t know, or care, about. Same goes for alcohol and other chemicals, used in such minute quantities they don’t even register to testable levels in the final product, but those with ideological reasons for avoiding such products would take issue.
Hindus don’t have “halal”, you’re thinking of Muslims.
I noticed that too, but that’s apparently what Heinz said to him. (See link to original story at bottom of article.)
But consumption of beef still frowned upon in the religion. What was it – you suffer a thousand years in hell for each hair on the cow that was killed?
due to beef clarifying agent.. as they worship of cows in their religion and dont eat beef at all..
A perfect way to begin Eid/Bayram today…
This whole thing is a beat-up.
Gelatin is used to clarify LOTS of liquids – beer, wine, juice.
And the original article clearly says the flavours are dissolved in alcohol solution but the heat processing reduces the final concentration to negligible. ALL juice contains levels of ethanol that are detectable. For example : http://www.tectronik.it/perch/resources/aranceen.pdf
So the “hindu” in that story is fooling himself if he thinks he has never ingested ethanol.
At least these products are natural derrivatives and not made from petro-chemicals or from some other ungodly source.
As an Hindu priest I can assure you that we are forbidden to eat anything containing beef or beef products. We also reject the notion of eating anything Halal as the process of halal slaughter is in conflict with our avowed principle of Ahimsa (non-violence), we do not subscribe to Muslim beliefs of halal and haram.
I am so disappointed that golden circle and Original fruit juice have deceived us for so long, until I read this article I used to drink their juices.
I will now forward this article to all Hindus on my address list
Hinduism has anything but an avowed principle of Ahimsa (non-violence). Bhagavad Ghita the sacred scripture for Hindus has a battle field setting & there’s a lot of violent things mentioned.