Two 14-year-old New Zealand girls made the news recently when their school science project revealed that Ribena, the popular black currant drink, did not have the high levels of vitamin C it claimed to. According to a story published yesterday in The Guardian, the girls were testing a variety of beverages, expecting to find that the less expensive ones had less vitamin C, when they discovered the opposite. Their results were picked up by a local news show and then eventually a national watchdog group. Today, The Guardian reported that GlaxoSmithKline, the drink's producer, is being fined almost $160,000 for misleading ads, which stated "the black currants in Ribena contain four times the vitamin C of oranges." A GSK press release says that that fact is true "on a weight for weight basis," but also admits that it could be misleading. There's also some discrepancy about the differing vitamin C levels in the concentrate versus the diluted product. On a personal note, I was a Ribena drinker for a while. I think it's tasty stuff. I don't think I ever believed it was good for me, however.Posts with tag black currant
Ribena ri-busted
Two 14-year-old New Zealand girls made the news recently when their school science project revealed that Ribena, the popular black currant drink, did not have the high levels of vitamin C it claimed to. According to a story published yesterday in The Guardian, the girls were testing a variety of beverages, expecting to find that the less expensive ones had less vitamin C, when they discovered the opposite. Their results were picked up by a local news show and then eventually a national watchdog group. Today, The Guardian reported that GlaxoSmithKline, the drink's producer, is being fined almost $160,000 for misleading ads, which stated "the black currants in Ribena contain four times the vitamin C of oranges." A GSK press release says that that fact is true "on a weight for weight basis," but also admits that it could be misleading. There's also some discrepancy about the differing vitamin C levels in the concentrate versus the diluted product. On a personal note, I was a Ribena drinker for a while. I think it's tasty stuff. I don't think I ever believed it was good for me, however.CurrantC Black Currant Nectar
CurrantC All Natural Black Currant Nectar is a relatively new juice product made by The Currant Company that has my taste buds jumping with glee. I tried it for the first time a few days ago and was really impressed. This intensely flavored juice is so full of taste that it is rightly called a nectar. As a matter of fact the term Nectar of the Gods comes immediately to mind when I drink this juice. The fresh flavor of black currants is so strong, tart and tangy, with just the right sweetness, that it really makes you want to jump up and start dancing. This has become my new favorite juice for those times when I want a treat and a quick pick me up. If you want to know where you can buy CurrantC click here.Did you know that for almost 100 hundred years it was illegal to grow Black Currants here in the US? In the early 1900's it was found that a plant disease called White Pine Blister Rust was passed back and forth between Black Currants and White Pine trees, and so in 1911 growing currants was banned. The federal ban was shifted to individual states in 1966. Finally in 2003, after much lobbying in NY State the ban was lifted here after it was shown that disease resistant black currants could be planted.
In the NY Hudson Valley Region there are now several farms growing black currants. It is also being grown in other parts of New York, Connecticut, Vermont, and on the West Coast in Oregon. There are still several states where the ban is in effect including Maine, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire.
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