Are preservatives, sweeteners or sugar added to the fruit juice I buy at the supermarket?

Answer

Under the Turkish Food Codex, adding sweeteners, colourings and preservatives to fruit juice is prohibited, and added sugar is not permitted either. Fruit juice is made from sound, ripe fruit that is fresh or has been kept under suitable conditions, and its content is essentially similar to juice squeezed at home. The main difference is that the product is given a controlled heat treatment so that it stays safe throughout its shelf life; in other words its keeping quality comes from that process, not from additives. A "fruit drink", by contrast, is a separate product group: it has a lower fruit juice content and may legally contain other ingredients. Reading the product name on the label is therefore the surest way to tell whether you are buying a fruit juice or a fruit drink.