In a recent story, a mother describes discovering mold in her autistic son’s juice box:
“It took up half of the juice box and at that point it was brown, black, green. I didn`t even know what I was looking at at first. I was so shocked when I opened it up. I had no idea what it was. It was so repulsive and it had an odor.”
Can you imagine your child drinking their favorite juice and discovering something like this? Well, unfortunalely it is more common than not. More than enough Youtube videos can be found on these disgusting discoveries:
Even Kraft confirmed that they have discovered mold in their products:We’ve had an independent lab analyze a sample and it was confirmed to be mold – a common food mold, similar to what might grow on fruit or bread. Experts have told us there is no significant or long-term health effects associated with consuming this type of mold, though we understand how bad of an experience it can be. If you have more questions, please call us at 1-800-227-7478.
Even though Kraft has taken steps to manufacture Capri Sun pouches with clear bottoms so that mom’s can check if there is mold or not, this common issue has yet to be properly addressed.
Could it be defective packaging? A Juicy Juice representative stated:
“We completely understand the concern about mold and assure our consumers that the safety of our products and health of our customers, especially the children who drink our juice, is of the utmost importance to us,” said Shannon King, a manager at Nestlé. “Juicy Juice does not contain any artificial ingredients or preservatives, and spoilage can, in very rare circumstances, occur if the packaging was damaged in any way and due to the natural sugars in juice.”
Or is it the lack of preservatives? Kathy Dannelly, leader of a University of Indiana research team, stated:
“As far as I can tell, the fact that they don’t put preservatives in this is really allowing lots of fungi to survive the drink process.”
So how do we address this problem? Dr. Kathleen Berchelmann, a St. Louis pediatrician, stated:
“For me as a pediatrician, this is an opportunity to catch people’s attention and talk about that kids really shouldn’t be drinking their calories.”
Stop drinking juices that have a risk of producing mold or encourage manufacturers to stop making them? The choice is, unfortunately for now, up to you.
