Orange juice is one of the classic juices. For many people it is an integral part of the breakfast table. There was a time, just two years ago, when you could get a liter in the supermarket for less than a euro. The same juice now costs more than twice as much at 1.99 euros. And that is the cheapest price in the Ökotest comparison. Voelkl is the most expensive – the “Demeter organic juice” costs just 4.39 euros per liter. But are the juices actually worth the money or is it time to switch to other drinks? Ökotest tasted 19 orange juices and sent them to the laboratory.
Orange juice has become expensive because it has become scarce. This is mainly due to changing climatic conditions, but also to plant diseases. If juices are organic, they usually cost extra. However, the seal is not a guarantee of better quality. In fact, the test winner is not an organic product and comes from a discounter. The Lidl orange juice “Fairglobe Way To Go” is one of the cheapest juices at a price of 1.99 euros and is the only one to score “very good” in the overall rating.
It doesn’t taste like it’s freshly pressed, but it has very good laboratory results and also carries the Fairtrade label. A sign that, among other things, attention is paid to fair working conditions in the harvesting countries. In this way, the discounter is demonstrating “what everyone else should do very quickly,” say the testers. Two other cheap discount juices are also “good”.
The best organic orange juices have to be content with an overall rating of “Good”, including the expensive Voelkl Demeter juice. The lowest-rated juice in the comparison is also organic. Ökotest criticizes Norma’s “Bio Sonne Organic Juice” for the poor rearomatization of the juice. The juice “simply does not meet the requirements of the Fruit Juice and Soft Drinks Ordinance”. Because of this and other defects that are not harmful to health, the juice fails with an “unsatisfactory” rating. The batch was removed from the range, and a subsequent batch was unremarkable according to the provider.
According to Ökotest, two other juices are also “poor”. In addition to the Kaufland juice, “K-Favourites Orange Juice”, there is also a big brand: “Valensina Breakfast Orange”. Both juices cannot boast of either taste or good laboratory results and are at the bottom of the comparison.
Despite the devaluations, no one has to worry too much if they have one of the poorly rated juices in their cupboard. The juices are all clean. Pesticides were hardly detected and hardly anything else that was relevant to devaluation, according to the testers. If taste is important to you, you should choose straight juices. Four cooled direct juices in particular scored “satisfactory” in the overall rating, but “very good” in the taste test. They tasted “like they were freshly squeezed.”
You can read the entire test for a fee on oekotest.de.
