Yup, I did it. I asked the bartender at a recent event I attended to show me the label of the cranberry drink he was serving from the fountain. I really wanted a cranberry orange juice, my go-to drink at parties and events, but knowing that many beverages contain high-fructose corn syrup, I wanted to know for sure what I was about to drink. The bartender was super sweet and obliged, but he couldn't lift the box the cranberry drink came in, so he ripped off the label and handed me a huge piece of cardboard with the ingredient label attached.
The FIRST ingredient listed was fructose-glucose, which is another name for high-fructose corn syrup! It also had artificial flavors, artificial colors, and the preservative sodium benzoate (which when mixed with citric acid, which this drink also had, forms benzene which is a carcinogen).
Read more about US versus Canada food labeling
I opted for a sparkling orange juice (it was 100% pure) instead, which wasn't my first choice, but once I knew how bad the cranberry drink was, I decided to go without it.
