Term	Definition
Product categories
100% juice	Juice expressed from a fruit or vegetable and no parts water, or a single-strength juice made from concentrate and water, or a blend of more than 1 single-strength juice. 100% juice may have added ingredients that do not add volume significant enough to diminish the juice’s soluble solid content, such as sweeteners, preservatives, and vitamins; if added, this must be disclosed in or next to the statement of identity.14,17
Diluted juice	Single-strength juice or multiple juices blended with water but with no added sweeteners.18 The product does not need to identify itself as diluted; the ingredient list and percent juice disclosed on the information panel are intended to notify consumers of the parts per juice and water. For example, 50% juice would mean 1 part juice and 1 part water.14
Flavored water	Drink with water in the statement of identity and with added flavors and that may or may not contain nutritive sweeteners, nonnutritive sweeteners, or juice.
Fruit-flavored drink	Drink with natural or artificial flavors intended to portray the taste of a fruit or multiple fruits and that contains added sugar, nonnutritive sweetener, or both, and ≤ 2% juice (generally ≤ 2% juice is added as flavoring).14
Juice drink	Beverage that contains more than 2% juice and less than 100% juice as an ingredient and added sugar, nonnutritive sweetener, or both. If the word “juice” is used to describe the product, it must also include a qualifying term such as “beverage,” “cocktail,” or “drink.”18
Ingredient and labeling terms
Added sugars	Sweeteners added to foods and beverages that contain calories, including sugar, sugar cane, honey, and high-fructose corn syrup.
Artificial flavor	Substance that functions to impart flavor that is not derived from a spice, fruit, fruit juice, vegetable, vegetable juice, edible plant, meat, fish, poultry, eggs, dairy, or fermentation products.19
Natural flavor	Substance that contains the flavoring constituents derived from a spice, fruit, fruit juice, vegetable, vegetable juice, edible plant, meat, fish, poultry, eggs, dairy, or fermentation products, whose significant function is flavoring rather than nutritional.19
Nonnutritive sweeteners	Sweeteners added to foods and beverages that do not contain calories, including sucralose, acesulfame potassium, neotame, and stevia, which are found in beverages. Some beverage manufacturers declare stevia a natural sweetener because it comes from a plant. Nonnutritive sweeteners are not considered flavors but may be considered flavor enhancers.20 The Food and Drug Administration also calls these high-intensity sweeteners21; yet, certain regulations refer to foods sweetened with them as “artificially sweetened.”22
Purport to contain juice	A food or drink purports to contain an ingredient if it “conveys, implies, or professes outwardly that it contains that ingredient” or if the food or drink “has the appearance of being, intending, or claiming to contain that ingredient.”14(p2897) A beverage purports to contain fruit or vegetable juice if “the product's advertising, label, or labeling bears the name of, or variation on the name of, or makes any other direct or indirect representation with respect to, any fruit or vegetable juice, or the label or labeling bears any vignette (i.e., depiction of a fruit or vegetable) or other pictorial representation of any fruit or vegetable, or the product contains color and flavor that gives the beverage the appearance and taste of containing a fruit or vegetable juice.”17
Principal display panel	The part of a label that is most likely to be displayed, presented, shown, or examined under customary conditions of display for retail sale. This is commonly referred to as the front of the package.
Statement of identity	Statement on packaged food and beverage that is (1) a name specified in or required by federal law, (2) the common or usual name of the food that describes the basic nature of the food or its characterizing properties or ingredients, or (3) an appropriately descriptive term.23 The statement of identity must be 1 of the “principal features” on the principal display panel.23