It has the awesome, rhyming name “Snapple Apple.” It has a prominent photo of a juicy, red, sliced-up apple. How can it contain absolutely no apple juice?

If you look at the ingredients of Snapple Apple, you see that it consists of the following: “filtered water, sugar, pear juice, concentrate, citric acid, natural flavors, vegetable and fruit extracts (for color).” No apples. Consumerists managing editor Ben Popken wanted to know why his bottle of Snapple Apple contained some pear juice, but no apple juice, and sent an email off to Snapple.

The response Popken received from Snapples Consumer Relations department didnt really address the seeming illogic at work here, and basically just said the company complied with “all applicable labeling regulations promulgated” by the FDA. Snapple then seemed to try to turn the tables on Popken, telling him to contact his health care provider if he had concerns about his “intake” of the product.

Popken reports that the key to Snapple being able to sell a Snapple Apple that contains no apple juice lies in the phrase “juice drink” and specifically the word “drink:”

Heres whats really going on: While something called “juice” and having pictures of fruit on it is required to have its flavor mainly come from the pictured fruit, if you call it “juice drink” you dont need to have the flavor be derived from the items on the picture.

Juice drinks can contain as little as 5 percent juice, although the Snapple Apple label says it uses 10 percent juice (pear juice, of course) in this particular “juice drink.”

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