Woolies responds to popular product confusion

Supermarket shoppers have sparked debate over the 'separated' appearance of house-brand lemon juice, but retailers say there's a simple explanation.

Shoppers have started questioning a change they’ve spotted in a supermarket staple — but not everything is as it appears.

An image of a Woolworths bottle of lemon juice, pictured on a shelf at a store, was posted to Reddit and caused controversy due to one major detail.

The liquid at the bottle of the bottle appeared to be dark, while everything floating at the top was essentially see through — not exactly what people picture when it comes to lemon juice.

“What is going on with the lemon juice? Used to be homogeneous, now horrendous,” the image poster ranted.

“Didn’t have to shake the sh*t out of it until the brand name stuff disappeared and replaced with Woolworths brand.”

This image of a Woolworths-brand bottle of lemon juice got shoppers talking. Picture: Reddit

Several social media users joined in on the whinge, complaining they had similar experiences at Coles and Aldi as well.

“The Coles brand stuff looks like this too. Same sh*t, different bottle,” one social media user said.

One commented: “Aldi lemon juice is the same, all the sediment sinks to the bottom.”

“It’s been like this for a while now and I’m gutted. I use it in so many things and am going through lemons like nobody’s business,” another said.

One added: “Probably changed the recipe when they did the rebrand, had some lady go nuts at us once cause she was convinced it had all spoiled.”

“There was an abrupt change in the product a few months ago. It went from a uniform cloudy ‘lemon juice’ looking solution, to this separated liquid,” another declared.

One commented with a possible solution: “Buy or pick some lemons, squeeze them all and put the juice into ice cube trays. Stays in the freezer until you need it.”

“We got this one and I had to check if it was water or lemons. Shake it up and taste like lemon,” another added.

One declared: “Tastes fine mates, just shake it for a mo.”

A Woolworths spokesman told news.com.au that the product was all natural, containing no artificial colours or flavours. It also retains naturally occurring pulp.

Woolworths has responded to concerns. Picture: iStock

“Due to its density, the pulp will settle at the bottom of the bottle over time. A quick shake before use will redistribute the pulp, ensuring the full flavour is enjoyed,” a Woolworths spokesman told news.com.au.

News.com.au understands that there have been no changes to Aldi’s Colway Lemon Juice, which is made from 99.9 per cent reconstituted lemon juice. The bottle has the recommendation to “shake well before use”.

However, the most interesting explanation is at Coles. No customers have complained directly to the supermarket about their lemon juice, which has not changed in formulation.

However, one thing has changed that might make it more noticeable — the packaging is now clear.

“At Coles, we’re committed to making recycling easier for our customers and reducing unnecessary plastic,” a Coles spokesman told news.com.au.

“We’re constantly redesigning packaging to increase recyclability and increase recycled content. A recent example is our switch to transparent bottles for Coles lemon juice — making it easier for customers to recycle.”

Originally published as Woolies responds to popular product confusion