New Innovative Organic Fruit and Vegetable Juice Beverage Provides Convenience and Nutrition with Less Sugar

11/03/08 Parents of young children know how hard it can be to feel good about the foods their children like and want. Cultivating healthy eating habits early on, when research shows lifelong habits are forming, is a goal shared by all parents. Getting more of the "good" stuff and less of the "bad" into toddlers' diets is tough and demanding work. Now there's a juice that offers real help.

First Juice organic fruit and vegetable juice beverage is the first juice for toddlers that is significantly lower in sugar and calories than traditional juice offerings, with nothing artificial. It also comes in a convenient spill-proof sippy-top container. From its organic and reduced sugar attributes to its nutritional value and convenience, First Juice offers everything a parent could want in a juice for their child.

First Juice, which has been specifically designed for children ages 6-30 months, is a new healthier juice alternative, with 50 percent less sugar than the leading 100 percent fruit juices. Each eight ounce serving of First Juice contains only 12 grams of natural sugars from organic fruits and vegetables compared to 27 grams of sugar in an eight ounce serving of 100 percent apple juice. A blend of organic fruit and vegetable juice concentrates and purified water, First Juice has been carefully designed with the right amount of flavor for young, developing tastebuds, with the intention of steering them towards an appreciation for flavorful yet less sweet tastes.

In addition to being lower in sugar and calories than leading 100 percent juices, First Juice is fortified with key nutrients toddlers need -- calcium, and vitamins A, C, and D. An eight ounce serving of First Juice is an excellent source of vitamins A and C (providing 35 and 60 percent of the daily value [DV], respectively), and is a good source (10 percent DV) of calcium, and vitamin D.

"First Juice was created based on a broad range of scientific and consumer research into the development of early childhood taste preferences, nutritional insights from pediatricians and other experts, and most importantly -- parents," explained David Glasser, First Juice, Inc. Founder and Chief Executive Officer. "Parents choosing to buy First Juice will experience convenience, sound nutrition and the reassurance that they are making the best juice choice for their children. As parents ourselves, we at First Juice have created a juice beverage and a no-spill package that we wish existed years ago, when our kids were younger."

Research suggests that lifelong eating habits and taste preferences are established early in life. Parents are left searching for options that can help them put their children on the right path to developing healthier food taste preferences from the start. First Juice is a conveniently packaged, organic juice beverage with nothing artificial. When used in place of other juice options, First Juice can reduce the amount of sugar in toddlers' diets, and can help them learn to enjoy and prefer flavors that are less sweet.

"It's important for parents to help teach children healthful eating patterns from the beginning," says Dr. Laura Jana, pediatrician and co-author of the newly released book Food Fights: Winning the Nutritional Challenges of Parenthood Armed with Insight, Humor and a Bottle of Ketchup (American Academy of Pediatrics, Oct 2007). "Juice has become such a staple in the daily diets of many young children these days. That said, offering them juice that contains significantly less sugar and all of the nutritional benefits of 100 percent fruit juice is a good way to help toddlers develop an appreciation for less-sweet tastes."

First Juice is currently available in two flavors: Apple+Carrot and Banana+Carrot.

To avoid the messy squirts and spills from traditional juice boxes, and to reduce the required cleaning of multi-part sippy cups, First Juice is sold in an innovative eight ounce recyclable, spill-proof sippy-top container. This container offers parents on-the-go convenience, while the First Juice 32 ounce bottle is for use at home. First Juice can be stored without refrigeration until opened.