Is SNAPPLE Really All Natural?

My boyfriend drove me to an appointment I had after work today.  He had a SNAPPLE Iced Tea with him.  I forgot to bring a book with me so I read the product label on his bottle of tea.

All Natural Snapple Lemon Tea.  Made from Green and Black Tea Leaves.  Made from the Best Stuff on Earth.

The Best Stuff on Earth? Wow! That sounds healthy!

Well....... just how healthy is it??


 The first thing I notice is a 16oz bottle of this tea is meant to quench the thirst of two people.   I have never known anyone to drink only half a SNAPPLE.  I could drain this entire bottle dry in a matter of minutes if I was really thirsty but if I do, I am consuming 42 grams of sugar. That sounds like an awful lot of sugar, don't you think?

Let's take a look at what REALLY is in this bottle of tea.......

Ingredients:
The finest tea leaves...........
I never really thought about tea leaves. I always thought tea leaves were tea leaves, but evidently the tea-leaf police have determined that the ones in this bottle are the finest.  In my humble opinion, the finest tea leaves would be ORGANICALLY grown.  SNAPPLE is actually owned by Dr. Pepper, a soft-drink company.  They make soda--one of the most unhealthy thirst-quenchers you could ever drink! There is no mention of where the tea leaves are actually from. I don't know if they are from China, or if the leaves are lovingly watered and cared for by a gentle farmer in North Carolina, or if they are grown in a lab under artificial sunlight.  The label just says, "The finest tea leaves". This sounds really nice so I will just take their word for it.

Filtered Water.............
This is a good thing and I am happy to know they are not just filling these bottles with ordinary tap water from some rusty old kitchen faucet. 

Sugar...........
Ok... you definitely needs some kind of sweetner in here.  No one wants to drink plain old tea.  There is ALOT of sugar in this drink--42 grams!  Do you realize how much 42 grams of sugar is?   Let me break it down for you:
1 gram of sugar is equivalent to 1/4 teaspoon. Therefore, 4 grams of sugar is equivalent to 1 teaspoon. Divide 42 grams by 4=10.5.
There are 10.5 teaspoons of sugar in this bottle of tea!

Citric Acid......
I see this additive ALL the time. Citric Acid is a colorless translucent crystalline acid, C6H8O7, principally derived by fermentation of carbohydrates or from lemon, lime, and pineapple juices and used in preparing citrates and in flavorings and metal polishes. Well, I suppose that is what they consider the ALL NATURAL lemon in this tea.  Citric Acid (fermented rotten, old lemons mixed with God-knows-what-else) is what gives this tea its nice lemon-ey taste and smell.  I keep thinking about Lemon Fresh Pledge--the furniture polish!  I don't think I want this in MY body!

Natural Flavors..........
This is the most deceptive ingredient of all.  Natural flavoring is a common ingredient in almost every single processed, pre-packaged product you eat. But what IS it? 

So-called natural flavor is produced in laboratories to give flavor to processed foods that lose almost all flavor through the processes of freezing, dehydrating, and canning. It is made from infinitesimal amounts of chemicals, or more so a collection of gases.

So basically, they take their "finest tea leaves" , add water, a ton of sugar, citric acid and process until it becomes a tasteless liquid.  New flavor must be added back in again--flavor made from chemicals and a collection of gases in a laboratory.  Does this sound ALL NATURAL to you? 

 I really hate to burst your SNAPPLE bubble especially if you are addicted to this product and think it is healthy! Just because it says ALL NATURAL on the label doesn't always mean it's HEALTHY!!

Here is what I consider ALL NATURAL Iced Tea:
 tea leaves (loose or in tea bags)
 filtered water
raw cane sugar ( raw sugar is still SUGAR but less processed than white sugar) or honey
Freshly squeezed lemon juice

I am not suggesting you never again enjoy a SNAPPLE.  You might want to reconsider your afternoon sweet treat or dessert after dinner if you do drink a bottle of this tea, however.  Remember the 10.5 teaspoons of sugar? If you drink one or more of these daily, and don't adjust your diet, that could explain your extra weight-gain!

This bottle of SNAPPLE Iced Tea does have a couple of redeeming qualities. The bottle itself is made of glass (not plastic) and at the very bottom of the label is a little message reminding us to recycle!

And this is my Daily Cyn...........