| Product: |
Volvic Touch of Fruit Lemon & Lime |
| Date: |
21/09/06 (810 review reads) |
| Rating: |
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Advantages: Refreshingly still fruit drink with no artificial colourings
Disadvantages: Contains aspartame and sweeteners
Water is a vital requirement for human life. Without food we can survive for around three weeks, but if deprived of water, we only have about three days to live. Water is essential for avoiding dehydration and for flushing the toxins out of our bodies as well as keeping our skin healthy. Dehydration leads to poor concentration, tiredness and sometimes constipation. We're all constantly told that water is good for us, and we should really drink at least eight glasses a day (however, only 10% of us actually do so and only 50% drink between one and four glasses of water a day). I think the main problem is that water tastes boring; it may be refreshing, but it has no taste. That's where the Volvic Touch of Fruit range come in - flavoured waters like Volvic Touch of Fruit can count towards your 8 glasses a day. It's the usual Volvic mineral water with added fruit flavours. Volvic natural mineral water is drawn from the Chaine des Puys mountain range, in the heart of the Auvergnes Volcanoes Regional Park in France. Volvic mineral water has a pH of 7 and contains a source of calcium (11.5mg per litre). The product is guaranteed free from artificial colourings.
~ THE PRODUCT ~
The Volvic Touch of Fruit range are four different flavours of sugar free still water drinks. They are available in large 1½ litre bottles, smaller 500ml bottles and multipacks of 4 x 500ml bottles:-
1½ litre bottle = 0.94p to £1.03
500ml bottle = 0.75p
Multipack of 4 x 500ml bottles = £2.48
It's a popular brand and you'll find it for sale in most high street shops and supermarkets. The bottles are all transparent and the flavoured water within is totally colourless. Each different flavour is simply identified by a different coloured cap and a simple matching label with pictures of the fruit within depicted. But does it live up to expectations and pass the taste test?
~ THE FLAVOURS ~
The Volvic Touch of Fruit range are nothing special to look at. All four flavours all still (no hint of fizz at all) and they are all totally colourless. I reckon they are best served chilled, but they're quite tasty warmish as well. The range offers you a choice of four different flavours:-
* Exotic Fruit (peach coloured cap) *
This is the best tasting flavour in the range in my opinion. It's flavoured with an exotic cocktail of pineapple, mango and papaya and it really is very tasty. Putting your nose into the bottle and the overriding scent is the caramel overtones of pineapple and a slight secondary hint of a perfumed mango smell. The first sip and it's really difficult to distinguish any one specific fruit taste as they are all blended together nicely in one exotic medley of flavours. Yes you can taste the pineapple but it's tempered by the milder, more perfumed tastes of mango and papaya. All in all, this is an exotic tasting concoction and most enjoyable. My scorecard gives this a resounding 9/10.
* Lemon and Lime (yellow coloured cap) *
The second best flavour in the range. It smells crisp and refreshing - very lemony with an underlying lime aroma. The lemon and lime are married well in this beverage and it has a pleasingly citrus yet somehow sourish bite to it. This one is less sweet and would appeal to those that are not so fond of overly sugary flavours. I'd give this one 8/10.
* Strawberry (red coloured cap) *
I must admit that I approached this one with caution as I am not keen on any strawberry flavoured items, unless they come in a punnet with lashings of double cream and sugar. Most strawberry flavoured products on the market taste really synthetic to me, and never really manage to capture the unique smell, taste and texture of eating a fresh strawberry at the height of summer. I must say that I was pleasantly surprised by the Volvic attempt at creating a strawberry flavoured drink. Whilst you cannot quite capture the fresh aroma of the fruit nestling on straw, this drink has a very delicate perfumed strawberry aroma. It's not as overblown and "in your face" as a lot of strawberry flavoured products on the market. Again, the taste is delicate and refreshing. It hints at strawberry rather than overwhelming you with fruity overtones. Nicely done. My score on this one is 6/10.
* Orange and Peach (deep orange coloured cap) *
Not one of my favourites. The water smells predominantly of oranges, which is a promising start. You cannot smell the peachiness at all. However, as soon as you take a swig, the peach kicks in. The peach flavour is just so overwhelming, and you only get a tiny, tiny hint of orange. I just find it far too sweet and cloying in flavour. In fact, it's akin to getting a bit of perfume or eau de toilette in your mouth. It makes me want to give my teeth a good clean as the flavour seems to cling to your mouth, tongue and gums forever. Far too sickly sweet and cloying. It'd give this one 3/10.
All in all, I think that Volvic have come up with a selection of winners here. The drinks are all subtle in taste and flavour (apart from the Orange and Peach one), and make a really delightul alternative to just plain mineral water. Similarly, there is no furry tongue syndrome with these waters - some fizzy diet drinks tend to leave a coating of fur on your tongue (..or is that just me ?).
~ WHAT'S NOT SO GOOD? ~
If it says "sugar free" or "reduced sugar" on the label, chances are it contains aspartame. I've read the research and been assured that aspartame has been tested and found to be safe by the European Commission's Scientific Committee for Food. They have set an Acceptable Daily Intake (ADI) on this product, which is an estimate of the amount that could be consumed every day over a lifetime with no noticeable health risk. In the case of aspartame, the ADI is set at 40 milligrams per kilogram of body weight. An adult would have to consume 14 cans of a sugar-free drink every day before reaching their ADI. However, it still scares some and aspartame is considered by many sources to be a trigger for health scares and diseases, ranging from rashes to behavioural problems. Consuming too much aspartame can cause symptoms ranging from spasms, shooting pains, numbness in your legs, cramps, vertigo, dizziness, headaches, tinnitus, joint pain, depression, anxiety attacks, slurred speech, blurred vision or memory loss. When the temperature of this sweetener exceeds 86°F, the wood alcohol in aspartame converts to formaldehyde and then to formic acid, which in turn causes metabolic acidosis. The methanol toxicity mimics among other conditions multiple sclerosis and systemic lupus. I'm no scientist, but doesn't that sound just a little bit scary to you?
~ CONCLUSION ~
My eight glasses of water per day are definitely much easier to drink with this product. I’m not overly keen on the fact it contains aspartame, but as low calorie drinks go, it’s one of the best of the bunch. I like the fact that there is more than one flavour to choose from and it makes drinking water a lot less boring….
~ THE TECHNICAL BIT ~
Best served chilled. No artificial colourings.
Nutritional Information per 100ml:
Energy: 3.8kJ/0.9kcal
Protein: Nil
Carbohydrates: Nil
Fat: Nil
~ FURTHER INFORMATION ~
Danone/Volvic
2nd Floor
International House
7 High Street
London W5 5DW
Tel: 0800-279-8882 (for Danone Waters Helpline)
Website: www.volvic.co.uk - quite a fun website where you can view their adverts, download a number of screensaver and take part in some interactive games.
Summary: Refreshing still fruit flavoured drink in range of different flavours
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