The Juice Box

Packed lunch with Juice Box (photo from my 2015 visit
to our local school lunch hour; © 2015 mae sander)

Schools are reopening throughout our country after a year of remote classes, Most are opening safely as teachers are being vaccinated. Among the many consequences of this genuinely wonderful event is that the children's lunchboxes are once again in use. Thus, at lunch time, many children will be skillfully unwrapping the cellophane from tiny straws and skillfully poking them into the tiny foil-covered hole in their juice boxes without causing a spill. (Not all adults have mastered this skill.)

A Classic Juice Box

Juice boxes -- that is, disposable single-serving containers of juice with a straw attached -- are one version of the paper or cardboard beverage carton. They were introduced in the US in 1980. Juice boxes quickly became extremely popular here. In recent years, annual sales have been $1.5 billion, but the industry is challenged by recommendations that kids should reduce their sugar consumption. Some juice box producers have been developing little boxes of water instead of juice. It's probably not news to you that kids love the sugary juice in their boxes, though!

Disposable beverage cartons -- the precursors of the juice box -- were invented in the 1940s and 1950s. Originally, these innovative containers replaced glass milk bottles, which were commonly returned to the processing plants to be cleaned and re-used. The newly invented cartons made milk delivery cheaper, and also enabled the production and sale of ultra-pasteurized milk that did not require refrigeration. The juice box extended the capabilities of these containers, being constructed from layers of paper to keep its shape, polyethylene to provide its label, and aluminum foil to preserve the quality and purity of the contents. The invention of the tiny straw was also an important contributor to their popularity.

The question of recycling the multi-material juice boxes was a concern almost from their introduction, and remains a concern in some elementary schools, where children are encouraged to bring their lunch in reusable containers to minimize waste. Because of the issue of recycling, juice boxes were banned in the state of Maine in 1990, but reinstated a few years later when recycling technology caught up with packaging technology. Curbside recycle pickup here in Ann Arbor currently accepts juice boxes. However, nationwide almost all recycling programs are undergoing challenges, and not everything designated as recycling can actually be returned to usefulness. In some places, what goes into the recycling bin ends up in the dump. It's a complex issue but not for this blog post. 

An Adult Version of the Juice Box

Sophisticated New York Cocktails 2019 -- source

Another Juice Box

40 calories
10 grams of sugar from HFCS
10% juice (source)

Hi-C Orange Lavaburst is a popular juice-box drink. This flavor is also returning as a fountain beverage at McDonald's this month after an absence of several years (source). The fountain version of this drink at McDonalds delivers quite a bit more to drink than a single 8-ounce juice box, and thus contains even more sweetener and calories. Here is the list of ingredients: High Fructose Corn Syrup, Water, Citric Acid, Ascorbic Acid (Vitamin C), Potassium Benzoate (To Protect Taste), Modified Food Starch, Natural Flavors, Glycerol Ester of Wood Rosin, Yellow 6, Brominated Vegetable Oil, Red 40. I can’t find any fruit juice on this list at all! (source) 

I'm sharing this blog post with the bloggers who offer pictures of drinks for Elizabeth's weekly blog event at her blog,  Altered Book Lover. This post © 2021 mae sander.