mixed opinions about these shoots (Britvic Robinsons Fruit Shoot)

Member Name: freud

Product:	Britvic Robinsons Fruit Shoot
Date:	19/04/09 (102 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: nice enough taste, comparitively healthy

Disadvantages: opening the bottle for the first time

Whereas hubby & I tend to drink coffee/tea/water our daughters like to try out different drinks all year round so I try & look for something that's reasonably healthy & doesn't cost the earth.

In an ideal world I'd buy fresh fruit & make them smoothies but as we all know this isn't only time-consuming but expensive which means I buy drinks either in cartons,cans or glass/plastic bottles ranging from small sizes to large squash-type ones.

I think the type of drinks one buys depends very much on our lifestyles. At the moment my older daughter lives & works the other side of the country & it's a train journey of over 4 hours - obviously she doesn't want to pay over the odds for refreshments. My younger daughter is at college & she doesn't have the disposable income to buy hers from the refectory which means I really have to think before I buy.

Hubby came home yesterday with a few trays of Robinsons Fruit Shoot - Orange(low sugar) they normally retail at around 40p each 200ml bottle but he buys items in bulk from Costco which saves a good deal (works out at around 28p).

They're available in several flavours -eg apple, apple & blackcurrant, strawberry & tropical - with sugar or low sugar & the colour of each one tells you the flavour.

The one I'm drinking now is a VERY bright orange, has a blue plastic screw-on/off lid which is revealed when the outer plastic top is removed. I found it a bit fiddly to open because of this (seemingly wasteful) packaging & then had to contend with the white push-up/push down drinking spout with 2 slits in it - I think I'm getting old...!

However, once you can access the drink it's very pleasant but rather sweet for me & a bit artificial-tasting if you are used to fresh fruit drinks.

The colour is good , the taste is quite strong & I feel refreshed after drinking it but I've found there's a bit of an aftertaste which I'm not keen on.

I'd say the packaging is geared towards the younger market with it's cheery pictures on the label & it's size & bright colours. I would personally be a bit wary though of letting a very small child take sole control of one of these bottles because although the body is made of strong plastic, the top has that brittle plastic which could become sharp if chewed or split.

They're a dinky size which are OK to carry round if you only drink small amounts but you'd need a few if you drink a lot or were going on day trips etc.

All the nutritional information is provided on the reverse of the bottle along with the ingredients some which are recognisable but there do seem to be a few dubious ones such as dimethyl carbonate, sodium citrate & phenylalanine?

Additional information is also provided such as ~
- suitable for vegetarians
- contains no artificial colours or flavours
- fruit juice from concentrate.

summary
~
- a nice enough drink which is only 12 calories.
- bit too sweet for my taste.
- refreshing.
- annoying packaging - but you soon get used to it.
- more 'body' than squash & less acidic than real fruit juices.
- worth a try if you see them on offer?

Summary: OK drink - makes a change from coke, water, squashes etc