Beverage Science & Innovation

The science of beverages and our understanding of their role in health are constantly evolving -- paving the way for more choice, added nutritional benefits and better tasting beverages.

Beverage Science & Innovation is about:

  • Finding new ways to help people feel better, perform better, and lead healthier lives.
  • Staying on top of emerging nutrition science and health trends and understanding how they relate to people's health and wellness needs.
  • Using nutrition expertise, scientific capabilities and consumer insights to deliver the nutritional benefits that consumers want in great-tasting, convenient and affordable beverages.

Creating Beverage Solutions for Nutritional Challenges

Consumers' needs and preferences are at the center of everything we do in beverage innovation. By listening to consumers and applying what we know about nutrition research, beverage formulation and consumer lifestyles, we strive to create 'beverage solutions' that address the nutritional challenges people face.

Here are some examples of our research efforts and how they can:

  • Benefit Your Heart: Help Lower Cholesterol. Scientists have known for some time that plant sterols added to fat-based products can lower cholesterol. But no one knew whether they would also provide this benefit when delivered in a low-fat liquid like orange juice. Our researchers decided to find out. ¹ Learn more.
  • Benefit Your Bones: Help Make Getting "D" Easier. Recent research suggests that many people don't get the vitamin D they need to keep bones healthy. To see if we could help make it easier for juice-drinkers to meet their vitamin D needs, our scientists worked with Dr. Michael Holick of the Vitamin D and Bone Health Research Laboratory at Boston University Medical School to find out if vitamin D added to calcium-fortified orange juice would be as readily absorbed by the body as it is when added to skim milk. Learn more.
  • Benefit Children: Help Address Micronutrient Deficiencies. Every day vitamin A, iodine and iron deficiencies rob millions of children of their ability to see, to learn and to fight common infections. With the goal of developing a simple but effective method for delivering the vitamins and minerals that malnurished children need, our scientists worked with Dr. Steven Abrams of Baylor College of Medicine to formulate an optimal blend of 12 essential vitamins and minerals that could be added to beverages. Learn more.

The future of beverage innovation is limitless. Helping people all over the world live healthier lives -- that's what Beverage Science & Innovation is all about.

  1. According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), foods that contain at least .4 grams of plant sterols per serving consumed twice a day with meals, as part of a diet low in saturated fat and cholesterol, may reduce the risk of heart disease. An 8-fluid ounce serving of Minute Maid Premium Heart Wise contains 1.0 gram of plant sterols.