Mary Leong, BluePrint's head of research and development, tells Racked the company began to use HPP because it adds an element of safety to its products. This has allowed it to be carried at places like Whole Foods and Target, where some sort of pasteurization process is required by the FDA.īluePrint kickstarted the juice cleanse craze. BluePrint, the original architects of the juice cleanse craze, started off as an unprocessed juice company in 2007, but after founders Zoe Sakoutis and Erica Huss sold the operation to Hain Celestial in 2012 ( leaving just 18 months later), it began to treat its juices with HPP. Since then, several other brands have followed suit. Cold water enters the chamber via high-pressure pipes, effectively killing microorganisms and increasing companies' abilities to go into wholesale.Įvolution Fresh, most widely known as the juice company that Starbucks acquired in 2011, was the first major juice producer to use HPP. During the non-thermal process, juices are bottled, sealed, and then loaded into a steel chamber. Whereas heat pasteurization alters juice's taste and nutrient content, FDA-approved HPP does not involve temperature manipulation and is said to preserve juice's integrity.

But is weeks-old juice authentic? This is the question at the heart of the juice industry schism. Cold-pressed juice only has a shelf life of a few days since harmful bacteria can grow in the unpasteurized drink juice that is HPP'ed, however, can be safely consumed for several weeks. The controversy centers on a technique called HPP (alternately referred to as high pressure processing and high pressure pascalization), where juices are treated under water-based pressure to inactivate certain bacteria and prolong a product's shelf life.

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