Sugar Coated Truth: Is Fruit Juice Truly Healthy?
For decades, marketing has painted fruit juice as a nutrient-packed drink, ideal for those mindful of health and weight. Compared to carbonated drinks and creamy shakes, juice often seemed like the wiser choice. But when scrutinized, does it still stand tall?
The World’s First Near Zero Sugar Juice
IncreBio is introducing INCREDIBLE™ Juice, the world’s first & only Near Zero Sugar™ juice with sugar levels even lower than skimmed milk. While traditional juices have faced criticism for their high sugar content, IncreBio’s proprietary biotechnology platform promises to disrupt the $150Bn juice market, which has long lacked low sugar alternatives.
After 8 years of development, started with research collaboration with Chulalongkorn University before spinning out to build its own biotech stack with a team of 25+ engineers & scientists. The company holds the holy grail library of hundreds of natural sugar-reducing microbes—all isolated from plants, fruits & edible flowers. IncreBio’s natural strains were trained to specifically target natural sugar molecules in fruit juice
The company then developed a Natural Machine within a Machine™, a proprietary fermentation platform that precisely controlled the pathway of sugar-reducing microbes (natural machine) within bioreactor (machine)—with the aim to let them eat all the sugar instead of us. Results? 99.7% natural sugar in juice were removed while key nutritional values that enriched in natural fruit juice are maintained.
To put it in perspective: INCREDIBLE™ Juice has only 2.8% sugar and provides just 33 kilocalories per bottle —70% lower than typical fruit juices. Furthermore, a taste test involving 439 people showed that over 95% believed its taste was at par, if not superior to regular fruit juices.
INCREDIBLE™ Juice stands at the forefront of the movement towards healthier fruit juice alternatives. The innovation behind it hasn’t gone unnoticed, as demonstrated by its selection for Fast Company’s prestigious “World’s Changing Ideas.” This honor has been shared in the past by prominent food-biotech giants such as Impossible Foods and Beyond Meat.
The discovery of excessive sugar in traditional fruit juices amplifies the demand for healthier choices. IncreBio’s INCREDIBLE™ Juice showcases the potential of forward-thinking innovation in the beverage sector. As we progress, the pivotal question remains: how swiftly can such innovations scale, and when will genuinely healthy juices become the industry benchmark, as seen with other beverages?
A Brief History of Fruit Juices
Initially, fruit and vegetable juices were conceived as a preservation method for perishable produce, tracing back to ancient Egypt. The modern embrace of juice gained momentum after World War II, as ‘nutrient’ and ‘vitamin’ became advertising buzzwords. Hollywood furthered the narrative, frequently featuring families with morning glasses of orange juice. But while juices do contain vitamins, recent studies, like one from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, suggest links between fruit juice consumption and childhood obesity.
Sugar: The Hidden Adversary
Most fruit juices, even those labeled as ‘natural’ or ‘no-added sugar’, contain alarmingly high sugar levels. A typical glass of orange juice holds around 25g of sugar, equivalent to 120 Kcals, which is on par with sodas like Coke or even Bubble Tea. Such high sugar content naturally leads us to question: Is our health drink just sugar-laden water in disguise?
The Rise of Zero & Low Sugar Drinks
Consumers are now flocking to “zero & low-sugar” beverages, making the “no/lo Sugar” category established itself as industry norm, not just a trend. Especially in the USA, where such drinks—including carbonated, energy, and functional beverages—now claim over 30% of the market. However, regular sugary beverages have been slipping in popularity. A 2023 Euromonitor study even predicts that “no/lo Sugar” will be a top trend shaping the global beverage future.
However, a challenge persists for fruit juice industry. These beverages naturally contain sugars, and reducing them isn’t as straightforward as with sodas that substitute sugar with artificial sweeteners. Some producers have experimented by diluting juices with water, but this approach compromises flavor. As a result, fruit juices have yet to fully capitalize on the “no/lo Sugar” trend. However, with an estimated market potential of $50 billion, the incentive to overcome this hurdle is significant.