Mott’s is Watering Down Kiddie Drinks

Would you pay more for beer that was watered down by 40%?

What if we told you it was healthier or you?

Mott’s, icon of everything apple, is offering your kids the same deal, but for apple juice.

They’ve introduced a line of juices for young children – Mott’s for Tots, with 40% less sugar, but 10% more expensive. Not a lot of food science went into this formulation. Mott’s simply replaced 40% of the juice with good old water. Marketing science – yes.

What you need to know:

Why water down  juice?

Apples, like many other fruit, are sweet. They contain plenty of sugar. A medium apple has 18 grams (3.5 teaspoons).

When squeezed into juice, the sugar content is even higher. An 8 fl oz serving of apple juice has 23 grams of sugar (4.5 teaspoonfuls). Mott’s for Tots has only 13 grams (2.5 teaspoonfuls). Parents that would like to reduce their children’s sugar consumption now have a panacea. Just imagine all the thank you letters pouring into Mott’s mailroom:

“Thank you Mott’s; it was just too hard to add water on my own…”

This is a sweet deal for Mott’s. It costs shoppers $3.59 for a 64 fl oz bottle of “regular” apple juice, but the healthier tots version is $3.99. This is a 10% premium for the consumer. But the profit margin is even higher for Mott’s. Remeber, 40% of the juice is not juice anymore but water (Mott’s calls it purified water; just between us though, this means filtered tap water that costs close to nothing).

If you can get your kids to drink water from the get go, do it. Apple juice can be a nice treat here and there. But avoid making it a daily ritual. Pouring anything other than water in baby bottles or sippy cups, is a dental disaster. Even in the tots version, the amount of sugar loving bacteria that forms around juice cloaked teeth is a thousandfold more than the herds of buffalo roaming the great plains 300 years ago.

What to do at the supermarket:

Get your apple goodness from real apples, especially local and in season (July-December). Apple juice should be no more than an occasional treat. If you really must drink it, store brand is just as good as branded juice, at significant savings of up to 30%. And in these rough economic times, really do yourself a favor – water down the juice at home.

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