When is fruit juice not fruit juice? When it's a fruit juice drink, writes Sarah Marriott
The main ingredient of a fruit juice drink is always water; most contain between 3 and 15 per cent fruit juice. Some cartons contain so little pure fruit juice that you would have to drink more than 30 to get one litre of juice.
A panel of parents set up by the UK Food Commission described "juice drink" as the most misleading but healthy sounding description used on children's food labels.
A spokesperson for Ribena disagrees: "It's not misleading, because the packs are clearly labelled and fruit juice drinks are merchandised separately from fruit juices."
There is no law which says how much pure juice should be in a "fruit juice drink", says Ray Ellard of Food Safety Authority Ireland.
"The basic tenet is that the consumer should not be misled."
Sarah Kehoe of the Irish Nutrition and Dietetic Institute says: "Parents are sometimes surprised to realise a fruit juice drink doesn't contain much juice. The key thing is to look at the label.
"There's not much harm in any juice drink as long as parents aren't counting it as one of the five portions of fruit and vegetables.
"Juice which is as freshly squeezed as possible contains the most vitamins."
Some juice drink packs carry information on consumption.
The Sunny Delight label carries the rather vague advice "should be consumed in moderation". A spokesperson clarified the advice: "Moderation depends upon the age, size and lifestyle of the consumer. Moderation would be around three servings per day."
The Ribena label explains: "This drink is not specifically designed for young children [one to three years\]. If given, max one serving a day."
According to a spokesperson, one serving a day is the maximum recommended for children of all ages. "The first choice should be milk or water."
"No added sugar" is emblazoned across many juice drinks - which means that artificial sweeteners have been added.
"Extensive studies have shown sweeteners are safe for children, though some kids have specific allergies to them.
"In general, we like to see adults and children eating natural products," says Kehoe.