Issue date: 10/6/08 Section: Entertainment

Many food establishments these days are jumping the healthy alternative bandwagon.  Jamba Juice is a healthy fruit smoothie place offering tasty beverages with energy boost options.  Panera Bread offers healthy deli sandwiches (if there's no mayonnaise on multi-grain bread) along with soups and bagels. It seems the two have mated to create Juice Zone.

Juice Zone offers real fruit smoothies like mango madness which includes passion-orange, guava juice, mango sorbet, mangos, non-fat yogurt and bananas.  Sound too fruity?  Try the chocolate monkey.  It sounds like a calorie-packed treat, but it includes yummy and healthy ingredients like chocolate soy milk, vanilla frozen yogurt, bananas and peanut butter.  Drooling yet?

The deli offers such delectable entrees as an Asian chicken wrap which includes chicken breast, lettuce, mandarin oranges, sliced almonds, crispy noodles and sesame vinaigrette accompanied by a whole wheat wrap.  Need something more American?  Try the smoked ham and Swiss Panini including smoked ham, lettuce, red onion, tomato, Swiss cheese and fat-free mayonnaise.

Although Juice Zone advertisements boast about its healthy options, there's still an alarming 438 calories in the turkey pesto Panini.  Smoothies fool many consumers into thinking they're all natural without additives.  This thought is generally untrue at any of these smoothie places.  The body builder with protein offered at Juice Zone has a whopping 827 calories.  Maybe that split-second decision to grab McDonald's instead wasn't such a bad idea.

Juice Zone offers healthy alternatives, but also offer daily soups such as broccoli and cheddar.  Although it's absolutely delicious, it has about as many calories as a hamburger from the golden arches. 

Dieters try to take away all temptations.  An unsuspecting victim might spot this soup or one of Panera's double chocolate chunk cookies and have a major meltdown. The baked goods stare out at the customers in line leaving them helpless.

Juice Zone sells healthy foods along with unhealthy ones.  Consumer beware, these healthy alternatives have potential, but avoid diving in without checking the nutrition information.

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