Lemonade! A refreshing, often-summer-time treat. When we started our “no sugar summer”, my kids were worried about not having lemonade all summer. I was ok with no more lemonade because I knew that most lemonades have some yucky ingredients. Most lemonades are “fake” and filled with all kinds of artificial ingredients and flavorings. I did a little investigating at the store for you to see what is in common lemonades. Listed below are some labels from popular lemonades that sell at a local grocery store. There are some nasty things hiding in a kids’ drink!
I know the ingredients are hard to read, so I typed them below each image. I highlighted the sugar and artificial flavorings and dyes, but know that this does not mean that other ingredients in these lemonades are necessarily safe and healthy. The link at the bottom takes you to Sweeter Honey’s Lemonade without anything artificial or processed and no dyes!
CapriSun’s Lemonade:
Ingredients: Water, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Lemon Juice Concentrate, Citric Acid, Potassium Citrate, Natural Flavor, Vitamin E Acetate.
Country Time Pink Lemonade:
Ingredients: Sugar, Fructose, Citric Acid (Provides Tartness), Contains Less Than 2% Of: Natural Flavor, Ascorbic Acid (Vitamin C), Maltodextrin (From Corn), Sodium Acid Pyrophosphate, Sodium Citrate (Control Acidity), Magnesium Oxide (Prevents Caking), Calcium Fumarate, Soy Lecithin, Artificial Color, Red 40, Red 40 Lake, Tocopherol (Preserves Freshness).
Kool Aid Lemonade:
Ingredients: Citric Acid, Calcium Phosphate, Maltodextrin, Salt, Contains Less Than 2% of Ascorbic Acid (Vitamin C), Natural Flavor, Artificial Color, Yellow 5, BHA (Preservative). You would add 1 cup of sugar and water to make the Kool Aid.
Minute Maid Lemonade (on the juice aisle):
Contains Pure Filtered Water, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Lemon Juice From Concentrate, Less than 2% of: Natural Flavors, Calcium Citrate (calcium source), Vitamin C (Ascorbic acid), Sugar.
Minute Maid Lemonade (on the soda aisle):
Contains Pure Filtered Water, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Lemon Juice From Concentrate, Less than 0.5% of: Natural Flavors, Citric Acid (Provides Tartness), Modified Cornstarch, Glycerol, Ester of Rosin, Sodium Benzoate and Potassium Sorbate and Calcium Disodium EDTA (to protect taste), Yellow #5.
Scary list of ingredients, right? Think twice before indulging in one of these lemonades. For a much healthier alternative, click here for Sweeter Honey’s Lemonade recipe. I promised my kids that they could still have lemonade this summer…this recipe is the result. I think their mommy likes it better than they do!
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