Snack Companions: Juicy Juice Harvest Surprise Versus V-8 V-Fusion Fruit and Vegetable Juices

Juice is, generally, a health food no-no, but a small glass a day can be a nice companion to a snack or light meal. As a parent, the recent addition of vegetable to the fruit juice offerings presents a nice way to sneak those veggies into your diet (or your kids' diet!). Juicy Juice and V-8 have recently introduced fruit and juice blends which offer a full serving of vegetables and fruit in a single 8-ounce glass. The V-8 V-Fusion offers three flavors; tropical orange, peach mango and strawberry banana. Juicy Juice Surprise Harvest also comes in three varieties; orange mango, tropical and grape. Both juices boast no added sugars or sweeteners, which in this age of super-sweetened everything, is a definite plus. Do not be fooled into thinking that all juices are created equal, not even between these two well-known juice makers.

I'm not normally a fan of vegetable juices and the V-Fusion was no exception. On first taste of the V-Fusion Tropical Orange I was pleasantly surprised, but that didn't last long. The taste is somewhat tart without any of that incredible sweetness that often comes with an orange-pineapple juice blend. Sadly, a distinctly carrot-like taste quickly overwhelmed the other flavors and I found the texture a little mucus-like. Little bits of carrot (I hope) presented a further problem for me. I found the V-Fusion drink to be more like a fruit and vegetable smoothie without the ice or yogurt. By the end of my glass I had an almost bitter taste in my mouth.

My kids (ages five and seven) liked the juice although the five-year-old was not a fan of the taste after almost half a glass. My seven-year-old enjoyed the remainder of the container throughout the rest of the week, perfectly content to be the only person in the house who would touch it. He said the taste was "good" and wondered if it was possible to make popsicles out of the juice (a favored summer-time treat). His sister firmly said she would "not eat them." The strawberry banana flavor fared slightly better, although neither of my kids ask for it over regular juice when given the choice while shopping.

Juicy Juice definitely hit a home-run with the Harvest Surprise blends. The juice has a light texture, not really smoothie, but also not quite plain fruit juice. You won't be able to fool your kids if they are sensitive to textures, although this wasn't as disturbing for me as the V-Fusion texture. What really wins for Juicy Juice is that the fruit and vegetable blend in the Harvest Surprise is a very tasty drink without the strange aftertaste most vegetable drinks leave behind. The grape and mango flavors have been absolute hits with my two kids, quickly becoming the most requested drink above even regular juice. Another nice thing about the Juicy Juice blends is that they are permissible to use with the Women Infants Children (WIC) federal nutrition program that offers food and nutrition services to low-income pregnant women and children.

I don't care for the grape Harvest Surprise blend as I find the grape too overwhelming (and I don't care for grape anything). However, with both varieties I found the taste remained constant, unlike the V-Fusion juice which quickly became a slightly bitter carrot smoothie. The Harvest Surprise blends also didn't have the disturbing little bits of things in it like the V-Fusion. The orange mango is made with sweet potato, which probably explain the lack of floating carrot and may also explain the lack of slightly bitter taste.

Harvest Surprise also beats out V-Fusion in terms of price by almost $1 at my local grocery store. While both are somewhat more pricey than the plain juice varieties,

In my family for taste, texture and price, Juicy Juice Harvest Surprise is definitely the winner over V-8 V-Fusion.