Choice Magazine – Independent Review

Australia's leading consumer authority has the living proof about living juice!

In October 2007, Choice tested the claim that non-centrifugal juicers produce juice that lasts longer and contains more nutrients.

They found that the manufacturers’ claims are true… and Vitality 4 Life has the best juicers! Choice confirms, the test shows that the juice from the Hippocrates juicer contains more nutrients; in fact well over double the beta-carotene and alpha-carotene of the juice from every other juicer in the test and it lasts longer.

Manufacturers claim cold-press-style machines’ juice is more nutritious and that it’ll stay fresh and tasty for up to 48 hours. According to the makers, the gentle, slow-turning action of a cold press machine produces a greater quantity of juice, which retains more vitamins, minerals, enzymes, phytochemicals and fibre than that produced by other methods. Their argument is that high-speed centrifugal juicers heat up the juice, allow air to enter and therefore cause damage to some of the perishable nutrients.

Health Claims Tested

	Centrifugal Juicers	Non-centrifugal Juicers
Less oxidation			The apple juice from the centrifugal juicers separated and went brown a few minutes after juicing
More fibre			The Greenpower Hippocrates & the Oscar Vital Max scored the highest at 90% on performance
More nutritious			The Greenpower Hippocrates’ juice contained well over double the beta-carotene and alpha-carotene of the juice from every other juicer in the test
Greater quantity of juice			Although the cold pressed juicers did produce more juice, the Healthstart Compact scored the lowest for the juice produced because its carrot juice was a little grainy and it produced a lower quantity
Easier cleaning			All the centrifugal juicers have large, bulky parts that are hard to fit into a domestic sink for cleaning
Stays fresh for 48 hours			The juice from the non-centrifugal juicers didn’t separate, smelt fresh and looked palatable and green after 48 hours in the fridge

Choice scored the juicers for performance & ease of use. Choice also tested the manufacturers' claims that juice made by cold-press-style machines is more nutritious and that it’ll stay fresh and tasty for up to 48 hours.

Key findings:

Nutritional analysis

Choice tested the nutritional claims, by sending a sample of carrot juice from each juicer to a lab to be analysed for minerals (potassium and calcium), Vitamin C and the phytochemicals alpha and beta-carotene, to see if the non-centrifugal juicers did extract or retain more nutrients.

The juice from all the non-centrifugal juicers contained about double — in some cases triple — the calcium of the juices produced by the centrifugal juicers (bar one, the Magimix).

The Greenpower Hippocrates’ juice contained well over double the beta-carotene and alpha-carotene of the juice from every other juicer in the test.

Potassium was much the same for all juices tested.

Vitamin C quantities were too low to measure accurately.

How long did the juice stay fresh?

A sample of apple juice from each juicer was refrigerated for 48 hours, then evaluated for colour, overall appearance, smell and texture, to test the claim that juice from non-centrifugal juicers holds up longer.

The apple juice from the centrifugal juicers separated and went brown a few minutes after juicing. After two days it was noticeably deteriorating, didn’t smell fresh, had a hard froth on top (except juice from the Magmix) and a layer of sediment at the bottom — indicating a higher level of oxidation.

By contrast, the juice from the non-centrifugal juicers didn’t separate, smelt fresh and looked palatable and green after 48 hours in the fridge, indicating less oxidation.

And the reason why? It’s possible that the oxidation or friction from higher-speed centrifugal juicers turns the juice bad faster than the slow-turning machines.

Brands Tested

Test results

Here’s some test results of the juicers tested by Choice, grouping centrifugal & non-centrifugal juicers. The overall score is made up of 50% performance & 50% ease of use.

Performance: The tester processed a kilogram each of carrots, apples, oranges and a combination of watermelon and pineapple. From these, she evaluated each juicer's abilities across a range of textures and consistencies. She was looking for juice that was smooth rather than pulpy, grainy or frothy.

Ease of use: Included how easy it was to 'feed' the juicer (affected by the size of the chute and how small the contents had to be chopped before it would fit), assembly and disassembly of parts, cleaning, use of controls, collecting juice, and removing pulp.

Safety: Each juicer was also assessed to see how easy it was for hands of various sizes to come into contact with the blades through the food chute, when it was fully assembled. Safety wasn't scored, but you'll find comments in the profiles.

		Performance
Brand/model (in rank order)	Type	Overall score (%)	Performance score (%)	Ease of use score (%)
Non-centrifugal juicers
Greenpower Hippocrates GPT-E1303	Cold-press, twin-gear	80	90	70
Oscar 900 VitalMAX (Chrome)	Cold-press, single-gear, 3 step auger	78	90	66
Champion 2000+	Single auger, masticating	74	85	62
Healthstart Compact	Similar to cold-press, single auger	72	78	66
Centrifugal juicers
Breville Ikon Juice Fountain BJE510	Centrifugal	83	85	80
Breville 800 Class 800JE	Centrifugal	81	83	78
Delonghi JE850M	Centrifugal	80	85	74
Sunbeam Café Juice JE7600	Centrifugal	80	83	76
Sunbeam Café Series JE8900	Centrifugal	80	83	76
Kambrook Twin Speed Juicer KJE40	Centrifugal	75	80	70
Morphy Richards 48951	Centrifugal	75	80	70
Magimix Le Duo Plus	Centrifugal	71	83	58

The Healthstart Compact and the Champion produced juice containing  high levels of calcium. Apple juice from both looked and smelt palatable after 48 hours. The Healthstart Compact juicer scored the lowest for the juice produced because its carrot juice was a little grainy and it produced a lower quantity.

Benefits of cold press juicers

There are several advantages to cold press juicers...

Choice confirms the test shows that the juice from the Hippocrates juicer contains more nutrients than centrifugal and other cold press models, and it lasts longer.

Conclusion: Non-centrifugal models do produce juice that lasts longer and contains more nutrients.

Choice has rated the Hippocrates juicer by Green Power as the #1 twin gear cold press juicer!

• Less oxidation - The apple juice from the centrifugal juicers separated and went brown a few minutes after juicing, the juice from the Hippocrates and the Oscar juicer doesn’t separate
• More Fibre - The Greenpower Hippocrates scored the highest at 90% on performance
• More Nutritious - The Greenpower Hippocrates’ juice contained well over double the beta-carotene and alpha-carotene of the juice from every other juicer in the test
• Greater Quantity of Juice - The Greenpowerr Hippocrates produces more juice and less pulp than any other juicer.
• Easier Cleaning - Cleaning is much easier than the centrifugal models plus there’s very low noise and continuous juicing
• Stays Fresh for 72 Hours - The juice from the Hippocrates juicer didn’t separate, smelt fresh and looked palatable and green after 48 hours in the fridge and will keep for up to 72 hours!

What to Buy

Choice profiled the Greenpower Hippocrates, which they considered to be the ‘best of the Twin Gear range’ in cold press juicers.

Greenpower Hippocrates GPT–E1303 Juicer

Choice has rated the Hippocrates juicer by Green Power as the #1 Twin Gear Juicer!
Excellent result for orange, carrot and combined pineapple & watermelon juice, very good for apple juice
Excellent instructional DVD
Large pulp container and good-sized jug
Can process wheatgrass, barley grass, alfalfa, and seeds such as sesame and pumpkin
Can be used as a food processor for nut butters & dips, meat mincer, soy milk and tofu maker, frozen dessert and baby food maker and pepper & coffee grinder
Optional attachable pasta and noodle maker available
Quiet operation, Juice still looks and smells palatable for up to 72 hours
High levels of tested nutrients in juice
12 year warranty