Oasis - Summer Fruits - an alternative to water??? (Oasis Summer Fruits Extra Light)

Member Name: Whizz11

Product:	Oasis Summer Fruits Extra Light
Date:	28/04/08 (245 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Tasty, readily available

Disadvantages: SUGAR!!!

I tend to buy quite a lot of sandwiches for lunch at places near my office which usually consist of Greg's the Baker or Subway and the only fruit juices they tend to have in the fridge (the rest of the drinks are all fizzy drinks) are the Oasis brand so as a consequence I have one or two of these a week. They come in a plastic bottle with a distinctive blue label with the word Oasis written on it in big red letters.

My favourite flavour is the summer fruits which from the label on the bottle looks like it is made with strawberries, cherries and red fruits, etc. The range also includes:

Blackcurrent and Apple
Citrus Punch
Extra Light Power Berry

Oasis is made by the Coca-Cola company and has been in available in Britain since 1995. The fact that it comes from Coca-Cola makes me think that it is a good quality product made to the highest standards as Coke wouldn't accept anything else. According to their website Coca-Cola have marketed this drink as "the light-hearted drink with the grown-up attitude for those who know what they want out of life". It has also been promoted in Britain as an alternative to water.

I do find it quite a refreshing drink when I have a sandwich and actually have found myself choosing it over water when I want something light and not fizzy. The summer fruits has quite a nice fruity taste without being overbearing but I don't really like the Citrus Punch flavour. To me it has a quite sharp and acidic taste and not a nice after taste.

The one negative point with these drinks and it is a BIG one is the amount of sugar they contain. Firstly on the bottle they are described as a still summer fruit juice drink with sugar and sweeteners. On closer inspection of the bottle and the calorie count/sugar count etc it say that 250ml contains 10.5g of sugar!!!! The bottle is 500g (two servings) so if you drink the whole bottle in one sitting (quite easy as it's not that big, I generally take mine back to the office and finish during the afternoon) then you will have consumed 21g of sugar which constitutes 24% of your daily sugar intake allowance. This is just a hugs amount and if they are trying to market it against water then they really do not take the sugar into account because this is really not healthy. If you were to drink one of these a day then it really would not be good for you so I tend to see them as an occasional treat.

They also contain 45 calories per 250g so again if you drink the whole bottle you will have consumed 90 calories on just a drink. Again, think of this drink as a treat and you will be fine from time to time.

Summary: A light refreshing drink but with a lot of added sugar