UPDATE: Jamba Juice Says It Doesn’t Sell Milk-Filled “Non-Dairy Blend”

Jamba Juice says it won’t tell you upfront the ingredients in its “non-dairy blend” because of “trade secrets,” but perhaps the real secret is that it contains milk products and an ingredient known to give some people explosive diarrhea.

There’s a book in Jamba Juice with the ingredients list for all their products, but when you flip to their non-dairy (but “dairy-esque) products, there’s nothing.

Cory Doctorow asked us, “AFAICT, this is illegal, and it’s pretty dirty – I mean, shouldn’t we have a right to know what’s in the food they sell us… Even Coke tells you what’s IN Coke, just not the proportions/process.”

Jamba Juice says they withhold the ingredients to protect their trade secrets, but we’ll tell you what they are anyway.

(Photo: gruntzooki)

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If you have an allergy, you can ask at the counter and they’ll tell you if the juice contains the allergens.

“Got peanuts? Nope, go fish.”

It’s actually not illegal for businesses to withhold their ingredients list if it concerns a trade secret, as cited in several provisions of Chapter 4 of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. However, Bills are on the docket in several states to strengthen labeling laws.

We emailed Jamba Juice customer service and they provided the ingredients list for their “non-dairy blend”: Water, Grade A Nonfat Dried Milk, Grade A Whey, Grade A Whey Protein Concentrate, Splenda, Sodium Alginate, Maltodextrin, Pectin, Carrageenan, Sodium Citrate, Sodium Hexametaphosphate, Natural Flavor, Annatto.

Maybe the process of drying and removing the fat from milk makes it like a non-dairy creamer, but some consumers might be pissed if they were buying the non-dairy Jamba Juice for ethical or religious reasons, and not just dietary.

Also notable is that maltodextrin gives some consumers explosive diarrhea.

Jamba Juice didn’t provide comments in time for this post’s publication. — BEN POPKEN

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