How do you teach nutrition?

Here, we’ll explore the importance of understanding the nutrition and quality of the food we eat, using orange juice as an example.

Focusing on the information available to you (ie on food packaging), we will explore how you can make informed choices about the nutrition and quality of your food.

Both fresh orange juice and from concentrate have their benefits (despite general perception that fresh orange juice is better). Both types of juice have a place in a balanced diet. Fresh orange juice tastes better and gives you an extra boost of vitamins. Juice from concentrate offers an economical alternative to fresh juices and provides some nutritional value but it loses some of its nutrients during processing (unless it’s fortified, then it could have even more nutrients than fresh juice).

By reading what’s on food packaging, you’ll be able to make a more conscious decision about whether there is a difference between product, and which one is a better option for you.

References

• Bull, K., Zerdin, K. and Howe, E. (2004). ‘The effect of high pressure processing on the microbial, physical and chemical properties of Valencia and Navel orange juice’. Innovative Food Science & Emerging Technologies, 5(2), pp. 135-149. doi:10.1016/j.ifset.2003.11.005
• Aschoff, K., Kaufmann, S. and Kalkan, O. (2015). In vitro bioaccessibility of carotenoids, flavonoids, and vitamin C from differently processed oranges and orange juices [Citrus sinensis (L.) Osbeck]. Journal of agricultural and food chemistry, 63(2), pp. 578-587. doi:10.1021/jf505297t.
• The Council of the European Union (2001) Council Directive 2001/112/EC 2001 (Accessed on 24 May 2018).
• The Council of the European Union (2012) Council approves new rules for fruit juices. (Accessed on 30 May 2018).
• Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2016) Citrus Fruit – Fresh and Processed, Statistical Bulletin. (Accessed on 23 July 2018).