Juice Plus is a branded line of dietary supplements. It is produced by Natural Alternatives International of San Marcos, California, for National Safety Associates (NSA; Collierville, Tennessee). Introduced in 1993, the supplements are distributed by NSA via multi-level marketing. Juice Plus supplements contain fruit and vegetable juice extracts with added vitamins and nutrients. National Safety Associates, founded in 1970, initially sold fire protection and water filtration products using a multi-level marketing model and later expanded internationally. In 1993, they launched the Juice Plus+ supplement line and have since supported philanthropic efforts such as the St. Jude Memphis Marathon. Juice Plus capsules are made by powdering fruit and vegetable juices through a proprietary process by an external supplier, then blended and encapsulated by Nutritional Alliances, Inc., and enriched with standardized nutrients like β-carotene, vitamin E, and ascorbic acid. ConsumerLab tested Juice Plus+ Garden Blend and found it contained only 76.4% of its claimed calcium using a precise ICP-MS method, despite distributor claims otherwise. Juice Plus products are sold by individual distributors earning 6–14% commissions, with sales reportedly reaching $6 million monthly in 1993 and growing to nearly $300 million annually by 2008 before leveling off. There is no good evidence that Juice Plus offers health benefits. Juice Plus is widely criticized for having unsupported health claims, low fruit and vegetable content, excessive cost, and conflicts of interest in its research. In multiple countries between 2019 and 2020, Juice Plus faced fines and warnings for deceptive marketing practices, including fake testimonials, illegal health claims, unauthorized endorsements, and false income promises. O. J. Simpson, a former athlete who endorsed Juice Plus with unverified health claims about curing his arthritis, was later involved in controversy during his murder trial where he claimed arthritis incapacitation, leading to the cancellation of his Juice Plus endorsement contract. The Juice Plus Children's Research Foundation, founded in 1997 to promote children's health, is criticized for conducting scientifically questionable research and primarily serving as a marketing tool to promote Juice Plus products.
History
Foundation and early marketing National Safety Associates was founded in 1970 by Jay Martin, a schoolteacher-turned-entrepreneur, who continued as CEO as of 2012. NSA initially sold home fire-protection equipment via door-to-door salespeople. In the late 1970s, they expanded into water filtration products. In 1986, they began using multi-level marketing, then expanding their product line to air filters and educational games for pre-schoolers. In 1991, it was claimed that their sales structure constituted a Ponzi scheme. In 1993, the United States Attorney General's office followed up on complaints that the company was deceptively requiring new distributors to make large upfront purchases of air and water filters. Each of the 32,000 distributors in Florida purchased an average of $7,000 worth of water filters, and many of these distributors were unable to sell all of them. The company's business in the United States decreased that year, requiring the layoff of dozens of employees. NSA later expanded its business outside the United States, and according to the company, was selling products in 33 countries as of 2000. NSA stopped manufacturing and marketing its water filter product line in 2007.
Supplement products Juice Plus was NSA's first product, launched in 1993. The primary products in the Juice Plus line include "Orchard Blend" (a fruit juice powder-based supplement) and "Garden Blend" (vegetable juice powder-based) capsules, which are sold together in a four-month pack at a cost of approximately US$167 (2009). Other supplement products available in the Juice Plus line as of 2011 included Vineyard Blend (grape/berry juice powder-based) capsules, Juice Plus Complete (meal replacement powder), Juice Plus Chewables (Orchard and Garden Blends), and Juice Plus Chewables (Vineyard Blend). Discontinued products include Juice Plus Gummies, Juice Plus Thins (wafers), chewable tablets, and a vitamin formulation for dogs and cats. In 2024, Juice Plus+’s launched Luminate, which claims to support mental clarity and cognitive health, along with overall well-being. While it uses scientifically validated ingredients, the product statements have not been evaluated by the FDA. In 2025, NewBeauty magazine mentioned a new Juice Plus powder product in the context of a wider trend toward combining fruit, vegetable, and berry ingredients into single supplement formats.
Philanthropy Juice Plus+ will serve as the presenting sponsor at the 2024 St. Jude Memphis Marathon Weekend, a fundraiser for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. The company has supported this event for 23 years and last year raised over $143,000 in support of pediatric cancer research and treatment.
Manufacturing
The main ingredients in Juice Plus Orchard Blend and Garden Blend capsules (vegetable and fruit juices) are reduced to powder through a proprietary process by an unrelated supplier, and then blended and encapsulated by NAI, which produces the finished product. Juice Plus capsules are "enriched with pure β-carotene, ascorbic acid, vitamin E, and folic acid". Two NAI-sponsored studies mention that the fruit and vegetable powders in Juice Plus include standardized levels of natural β-carotene derived from Dunaliella salina and soy-derived d-α-tocopherol (vitamin E), which are supplied by the Henkel Corporation (now doing business as Cognis Corporation), and ascorbic acid derived from acerola cherry, which is supplied by Schweizerhall Pharma.
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