I just saw this warning on Facebook about mold an American mother had found in the Capri Sun juice her son was drinking. Apparently, the kid had said it tasted "funny". The mom tasted it and the juice was like straight alcohol! When she poured the juice into a glass a huge mold clump came out.
YUCK.
Here is her pic:
So I went to check our stash of apple flavored Capri Suns which I had a box full of stored in the cupboard and an additional two in the fridge. All had expiration date 23rd March 2013. They were packaged 24th June. Ten months?? That's really an optimistic estimation isn't it, keeping in mind there's no preservatives. How did the company come up with this? How is the juice is supposed to stay fine in there for that long in room temperatures? Our house is air-conditioned so this would've remained in about 21C temperature the few months we had them.
How did I not figure this one out before. No preservatives + room temperature 10 months=BROBLEM.
I will have to blame my mommy brain.
Anyways I'm so glad I went and checked. Because WHOA the ones I had in the cupboard had fermented and turned into an apple cider rather than a juice! The smell of alcohol was really strong. The two in the fridge were fine but I still dumped them out just in case.
Wait a minute.
O-M-G.
No wonder my daughter had weird look on her face when she was drinking one the other day. Oh dear Lord, I gave my baby an alcoholic drink! Bad parenting 101 anyone? I feel so guilty now. Now I understand why she slept so soundly that day..
I drugged my baby with "natural juice".
I also cut open the packages to check if there was any visible mold in there. Thank God there wasn't! I threw everything away and won't be buying these anymore though. What a shame they don't come in clear packages so people could check for anything out of the ordinary in them. The only way I would get these anymore is if I had a freezer big enough to store them in.
That reminds me of a field trip my daughters daycare recently arranged. Daycare field trip! How exciting! To the Riyadh zoo maybe? An amusement park? To a compound pool? Horse stables?
Nope.
Of all places they decided to go to CAPRI SUN JUICE FACTORY.
When I was a kid we went to a licorice factory. A chocolate factory, even a cookie factory. But a juice factory? Yawn.
My friend went and she told me it was such a waste of time. There was some totally clueless guy showing them around the factory. His tour sounded like this:
"Ummm, this is where we make the juice" (pointing at a large juice barrel)
"Ummm, this is where we add the preservatives"(pointing at another barrel)
"Any questions?"
End of tour.
My friend was flabbergasted by the expertise of the guide. She's also a fan (or probably now an EX fan) of Capri-Sun because of the "no preservatives, no additives, all natural" thingy going on. So naturally, (no pun intended) she was amazed to hear the guide pointing out the place where the preservatives are added and decided to ask about it.
Friend: "I thought Capri-Sun is additive-free?"
Capri-san: "No, it's not ma'am."
Friend: "But it says on the juices there's no added preservatives, it says all natural."
Capri-san: "But ma'am this is where we add the preservatives. Any other questions?"
Friend: "Umm...No."
Stay away! Unless of course, you're looking for a cheap way to make home-made booze.
P.S. I don't regularly give my kid packaged juices, they are only for very rare occasions. And I think from now on we're done with them altogether.
Yahoo news reporting about the mold problem in Capri Sun juices: http://news.yahoo.com/capri-suns-pesky-mold-problem-resurfaces-211700677.html
