Update: Jamba Juice has now recanted its ingredients list — it claims that it doesn’t even offer non-dairy goo.
I recently noticed that the Jamba Juice ingredient book doesn’t say what’s in the non-dairy goo they add to their smoothies, claiming that the specific composition is a trade secret. They say that if there’s something you’re allergic to, you can ask them and they’ll tell you if it’s in there, like a culinary game of Go Fish. I wasn’t sure if this was legal, so I mentioned it to Ben Popken from Consumerist and he did an excellent job of running the story down. Turns out that Jamba’s non-dairy blend contains…milk!
We emailed Jamba Juice customer service and they provided the ingredients list for their “non-dairy blend”: Water, Grade A Nonfat Dried Milk, Grade A Whey, Grade A Whey Protein Concentrate, Splenda, Sodium Alginate, Maltodextrin, Pectin, Carrageenan, Sodium Citrate, Sodium Hexametaphosphate, Natural Flavor, Annatto.
Maybe the process of drying and removing the fat from milk makes it like a non-dairy creamer, but some consumers might be pissed if they were buying the non-dairy Jamba Juice for ethical or religious reasons, and not just dietary.
Also notable is that maltodextrin gives some people explosive diarrhea.
