Most apple cider sold in grocery stores has been pasteurized to kill off any unwanted bacteria. At farmers markets, growers may also use only one or two types of apples for their cider to give their products a unique flavor. These days, it is becoming more common to see the type of apple used printed on the label. The majority will not have anything added to them, as apples are quite sweet and flavorful on their own. ” This definition – one of the few available – matches what most of us think of when we picture apple juice and apple cider.īoth apple juice and apple cider may be made from concentrate or from freshly squeezed or pressed apples. Apple juice is juice that has been filtered to remove solids and pasteurized so that it will stay fresh longer. According to the Massachusetts standard, “ Fresh cider is raw apple juice that has not undergone a filtration process to remove coarse particles of pulp or sediment. Some states, such as Massachusetts, specify a difference betwen juice and cider. Some juice producers, like Martinelli’s, even come right out and say that the labels are the only difference between their juice and their cider. In short, you can call juice cider and cider juice because there is no official difference between the two. There is no official federal definition of what constitutes apple juice or apple cider, which means that there is no on standard for the difference between the two beverages. From time to time, however, you’ll notice clear juices labeled as ciders and cloudy, unfiltered apple juices on store shelves.
Apple cider is generally considered to be cloudy unfiltered juice, while apple juice is typically clear, having had all of the apple solids filtered out of it.