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Understand 9 times out of ten Raw means not processed products! We had a raw product we wanted everyone to share with but when it came down to the manufacturing of a product you must follow the rules, and that is pasteurizing the product. if you don't it will not last more then a week before it spoils. There are ways around this such as Freezing it but again that is not raw either:) here is the story about Goji juice sorry for those of you that buy it! Our FreeLife goji juice saga begins... OUR STORY OPENS in June 2007 at Papayas, our local natural food store on the garden island of Kauai, Hawaii... While shopping, we were approached by a pleasant fellow who asked if we'd like to try a sip of Himalayan Goji Juice. Sure, OK, why not? He told us all the reasons why we should be drinking Himalayan Goji Juice every day. After listing a parade of benefits, he invited us to not only order monthly supplies for ourselves, but also to become distributors of this $50 business-in-a-bottle. The primary pitch to us was the claim that Himalayan Goji Juice is the only raw, unheated goji juice on the market. And just because it has never been heated, it is the only goji juice that has all the natural healing properties and "Master Molecules" of the true goji berry. So you just can't buy another juice anywhere like it. Pretty tall tale. We didn't believe it for a moment. First of all, we are long time natural food enthusiasts, and we knew that no juice purchased in an unrefrigerated bottle could possibly be raw or unheated, even with supposedly "whole, unrefined natural preservatives" that he said were added to keep the juice fresh. We told him we'd need to see proof of these claims, said thanks and left the store. We really didn't think much about it after that. But people started talking about the raw miracle juice with the "Master Molecules." And we'd hear that the reason the juice was so powerful is that it is never heated, so it maintains all its healing energies.
We go undercover to get the "raw facts"
We decided to contact the factory where the juice is made. After a little googling, we located Aseptic Solutions, the plant in California where the juice is processed. Posing as a prospective client, our undercover investigator called Aseptic Solutions and spoke to the Executive Vice President. That's when we discovered the truth: that Himalayan Goji Juice is far from raw and unheated. Actually it is 1) pureed and dried in Asia, then 2) reconstituted and HEAT STERILIZED at the Aseptic Solutions plant in California. Our Aseptic exec confirmed that Himalayan Goji Juice is indeed processed at his plant. We asked him if ALL juices at their plant undergo their proprietary flash heat sterilization process which kills all bacteria, pathogens, and live enzymes in the juice. "Yes, we always use flash sterilization," he told us. "We have never attempted a raw product." We asked if his company would ever consider packaging a raw juice. The answer came crystal clear: "Absolutely not," (his emphasis). "The risk is potentially too high." He explained that flash heat sterilization utilizes even higher temperatures than pasteurization and employs a different process.
Hot juice vapors require an "Essence Recovery System"
A different company rep clarified the aseptic flash sterilization process. He told us that the juice is heated to between 260 and 286 degrees Fahrenheit. The process uses an "essence recovery system" (his words) to recapture the boiled-off juice vapors which are then condensed back into the final juice product. The sterilized juice is then chilled down to about 40 degrees and chill bottled in sterile packaging. He said that the entire process from start of heating to cooling and bottling takes about 11 seconds. By comparison, he explained that hot filling and pasteurization reaches temperatures of about 180 degrees Fahrenheit, although for a much longer time period. Yet at these much lower temperatures, some life remains (see below). Aseptic sterilization completely destroys ALL living organisms in the juice by heating to a juice-specific target temperature. The pharmaceutically sterilized juice leaves absolutely no trace of life (see chart below), including raw, living enzymes: From the Aseptic Solutions site What’s the difference between
Sterilization and Pasteurization? Sterilization refers to the non selective killing of every living organism, good or bad in the product for its storage conditions. Irreversible coagulation of (microbial) proteins. Pasteurization is designed to eliminate harmful organisms and results in the survival of unspecified but usually benign organisms which are able to colonize without competition from pathogens. Not reliably sporicidal. STERILIZATION - Higher temperature
- Shorter contact time + aseptic filling
- Low impact on the product
- Longer shelf life
- Sterilization kills ALL micro-organisms
| | PASTEURIZATION - Lower temperature
- Longer contact time
- Deterioration of the product
- Shorter shelf life
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We were shocked. But not for the reason you may think. The fact that the juice is heated didn't phase us at all. We already knew that before we made the calls. What shocked us was the sudden realization that yes, Himalayan Goji Juice distributors are actually pitching their juice with fantastic fairy tale selling propositions. And people were actually buying the story along with the bottles. What's going on here? we thought again. As longtime health-conscious people, it was a mystery that both intrigued and outraged us, so we wanted to find out more...
Update: Please don't call the factory
Some readers of our site tell us they want to phone Aseptic Solutions to verify our information. Please note that we were able to get our detailed information only because we approached Aseptic Solutions undercover, we caught them off guard, and we asked the right questions. It is against Aseptic Solutions' policy to discuss any of their clients, including FreeLife. Since the publication of breathe.org, the factory is very much on guard, and it is unlikely they will confirm or comment on the information they gave us. However, it doesn't matter, because as you will read later in our story, FreeLife has now admitted to us that its juice is indeed heat sterilized through the aseptic process, and according to the United Nations, aseptic processing destroys ALL life and enzymes in the juice. Read more about this at http://goji.breathe.org/freelife-himalayan-goji-juice-secret.htm Just goes to show don't believe everything you read do your research!
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