Let’s paint the picture: You’re on a long drive when suddenly your gas tank light flicks on—it’s time to fill up. Perfect timing! You’ve been craving a salty snack and a fruity drink to help power you through. Pulling into the next gas station, you give yourself a once-over before heading inside, grabbing a bag of trail mix as you mentally prepare for the ingredient label marathon ahead in the refrigerated drink aisle.

You’ve kicked soda but still want that bubbly pop, so sparkling water it is. But which one? As you scan the cans, your eyes land on words like artificial flavors, natural essence, real fruit juice, potassium benzoate, calcium disodium, and citric acid. Suddenly, healthy choices feel way more complicated than they should be.

We get it. Choosing to eat, drink, and live well shouldn’t require decoding a chemistry lesson. That’s why we’re breaking down common beverage ingredients in real-talk, so you can sip smart and feel confident about what you’re drinking.

Cracking the Code: Common Ingredients Explained

Artificial Flavors

Artificial flavors are lab-created chemicals designed to mimic natural tastes. They don’t include actual fruit or plant materials but replicate flavors in a concentrated, consistent, and sometimes cheaper form.

Natural Flavors

Natural flavors come from real plants, fruits, herbs, or other natural sources. They start with actual ingredients—say, strawberries or oranges—and use processes like extraction or distillation to capture taste compounds. These flavors often contain hundreds of natural chemicals working together to create authentic flavor profiles.

Natural Essence

Natural essence refers to flavor oils or extracts derived directly from fruits or plants. Think of it as the concentrated “soul” of an orange or lemon — the aromatic oils that give the fruit its signature scent and taste. Essences are carefully extracted through natural processes like cold pressing or distillation, capturing the true character of the source without synthetic additives.

Real Fruit Juice

This is exactly what it sounds like—juice squeezed directly from fresh fruit. It adds genuine flavor and nutrition (like vitamin C) to the drink, often imparting natural sweetness and color. When you see real fruit juice on the label, you know the flavor comes straight from nature. With that, it typically involves a small amount of added sugar stemming from the natural fructose and glucose found in fruits and vegetables.

Potassium Benzoate

A preservative used to keep beverages fresh and free from microbial growth. It’s a safe and common ingredient in many foods and drinks, approved by food safety authorities worldwide. 

Calcium Disodium EDTA

This ingredient acts as a stabilizer. It binds to trace metals that might cause off-flavors or discoloration in beverages, helping maintain the product's taste and appearance over time. Like potassium benzoate, it’s commonly used and recognized as safe in regulated amounts.

Citric Acid

Naturally found in citrus fruits, citric acid adds a subtle tang and helps balance the flavor profile of your beverage. It works as a preservative and pH adjuster.

Why Does It Matter?

Taste: Natural flavors provide complex, nuanced tastes true to the original ingredient. Artificial flavors can feel one-dimensional or overly sweet.

Health Perceptions: Many people prefer natural flavors due to their origins and minimal processing, even though both types generally pass safety standards.

Environmental Impact: Natural flavors rely on sourcing real crops, which can support sustainable farming practices. Artificial flavors depend on chemical synthesis, often involving petrochemicals and energy-heavy processes.

Why Bubbles Goes All Natural

At our core, JUST is on a mission to do good for people and the planet. Here’s why you’ll only ever find natural flavors in our Bubbles line:

Authentic Taste: Our natural flavors capture the true flavor profiles of fruits like strawberry, orange, and lime, delivering sparkling water that tastes real and never artificial or over-engineered.

Simple, Transparent Ingredients: We believe what’s inside your can should be easy to understand and good for your body. No translator required.

Sustainable Sourcing: Whenever possible, our natural flavors come from responsible sources that match our environmental and social values and processing standards.

The Final Sip 

Nutrition and health shouldn’t be complicated. As a consumer, you have a right to know where your food and drinks come from and the what and why behind the ingredients you’ll find on the labels. So whether you’re grabbing a pick-me-up at the gas station or grocery shopping for your family, we’re here to help you feel prepared to make informed shopping decisions you can feel good about (literally and figuratively). Cheers to choosing goodness, one sip at a time!