Sunny D Is Not Juice

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Sunny Delight: Not Food

Water, High Fructose Corn Syrup, and 2% or less of each of the following: concentrated juices (orange, tangerine, apple, lime, grapefruit), citric acid, ascorbic acid (vitamin C), thiamin hydrochloride (vitamin B1), natural flavors, modified corn starch, canola oil, sodium citrate, cellulose gum, acesulfame potassium, neotame, sodium hexametaphosphate, potassium sorbate and sodium benzoate to protect flavor, yellow #5, yellow #6. Nutrition Facts: Contains 16g of Sugars

This morning I was treated to a gift from my apartment complex in the form of a bag of free breakfast goodies. This was an incredibly nice gesture on their part, though I assume it has something to do with the upcoming lease resign period. Inside the bag was a small jug of juice, a breakfast cereal bar, and an apple. I normally don’t eat much of a breakfast, but I thanked them anyway for going that extra mile.

The only thing I even considered eating was the apple. We have the cereal breakfast bar that was splattered with labeling that suggested it contained “whole grains that our bodies need” (which is false). So of course I threw that out without a second thought. Finally, the last item in the bag was a small jug of Sunny D.

Sunny Delight shouldn’t be considered food, much less a serving of fruit. The only creatures who should consume this stuff are hummingbirds. That’s a pretty good amount of sugar for just 6 1/2 fluid ounces, this stuff is basically just sugar water.

Now first off, I was never going to drink this stuff because fruit juice is a terrible way to get one’s servings of fruit. Juice is more likely to have added sugar, removed fiber, and have a more pronounced insulin response due to the ease with which it is digested. However, Sunny-D is not even juice. At best it is “citrus punch” masquerading as orange juice, and even then it only contains 5% juice.

You might say that everyone knows this, but do they? And even if they do, how many people actually know what really is in it or how unbeneficial it is for you? How many moms just hand this stuff out to their kids because they like the taste, and that it supposedly has fruit in it?

You might as well just have a candy bar or soda for breakfast, they have comparable amounts of sugar in them. You might want to believe that it is a nutritional drink due to the prominent labeling that explains how much vitamin C is inside, but the fact that it contains vitamin C is hardly a reason to consume so much sugar. Peppers and broccoli provide vitamin C.

OK, if you are stranded on a boat in the middle of the ocean, and are suffering from scurvy, sure have a Sunny-D and enjoy the sugary vitamin C. Otherwise, it’s just another ridiculous processed food product that contributes to obesity and diabetes.