My First "Raw" Food Experience: BluePrint Juice

I'll admit that I didn't even realize that BluePrint Juice's "Red" was even a raw, unpasteurized food product until I was 1/3 in the middle of drinking it (probably not the smartest way to go about things, actually). My husband had purchased it at a health food store and I grabbed it from the fridge. Drinking it at work, I noted the "100% Raw" imprint on the minimalist packaging and decided to look into it further.

First, about Red: it's a rather hearty blend of apples, carrots, beets, lemon, and ginger. I'm looking for juice drinks that are more veggie than fruit, and this fit the bill nicely. Beets are a great way to get the taste of sweetness in your veggie drink (I recently reviewed the excellent Columbia Gorge's "Carrot Beet Celery"), and the root has tons of antioxidants that fight stuff like cancer and heart disease.

Now, BluePrint's juices are, as I said before, unpasteurized -- not heated to kill off bacteria. No additives of any kind, either. This is why it has such a relatively short shelf life, it is key to keep the drink cold, and that it has the following warning on the bottle:

"This product has not been pasteurized and therefore may contain harmful bacteria that can cause serious illness in children, pregnant or nursing women, the elderly, and persons with weakened immune systems."

Admittedly, since I've never eaten or drank a "raw" food product before, this made me a we bit nervous.

Searching for info online regarding the safety of raw juices, I learned that there is indeed a danger to drinking certain juices if moldy fruit/veggies are used (here's an article just on apples). BluePrint, however, uses a technology called HPP (High Pressure Pascalization) that utilizes not heat but extreme pressure to kill off a lot of the bacteria. From their website:

"With demand for unaltered juices shifting into the mainstream, pioneering beverage companies BluePrint and Harmless Harvest have turned towards a technology called HPP to safely deliver the nutrition of raw ingredients without modifying the taste in any way. HPP, which uses high pressure instead of heat to inhibit microflora growth in fresh food, is achieving significant results in the fresh, raw beverage category.

"Primarily used as a complementary safeguard in packaged meat and shellfish, the technology is now being applied to raw juices as an alternative to adding preservatives and using heat treatment. Unlike traditional heat pasteurization (“boil and bottle”), Pascalization is an external process: The pressure is applied when products are in their final packaging, thus eliminating the possibility of recontamination, while the raw product itself is never touched."

However, BluePrint admits that HPP "is not a magic bullet" in the quest for as healthy and bacteria-free raw juice as possible. So it seems to me while drinking these products is a rather attractive option if one wants to maintain a healthy lifestyle -- lack of heating/pasteurization means a lot of vital vitamins and minerals are destroyed -- care still has to be taken.

Now: how did BluePrint's Red taste?

Pretty darn fresh and revitalizing. In fact, I almost felt "high" after drinking it (was this just a placebo effect based on my expectations?). It definitely tasted different from pasteurized juice.

If you are thinking of doing a fruit-juice "cleanse" -- and/or follow the trendy "Clean" diet -- BluePrint actually offers a delivery service that can bring you juice to your door. Given how much I'd like to go on a "Clean" preservative-free detox, it's very tempting. But would it be worth it? According to the price tag, this 16oz. bottle cost $10.49 -- more than double that of other non-raw brands.

As with everything, the door is not closed on this route, but I'm doing more research! I'll also let you know if I feel any sort of ill (or positive!) effects from the drink.