Juice Pulp Is Reborn In These Colorful Snacks

There can be no cold-pressed, fresh-squeezed or centrifugally extracted juice without juice pulp. This 100% biodegradable material may neither look nor taste appetizing in its post-juicing form, but food waste-conscious companies are seeking to rescue and repurpose this versatile by-product. Into something other than compost, that is.

NPR reports that upcycling pulp, also called pomace, has emerged as a niche business in areas with abundant juice bars. Healthy snack brands utilize hundreds of thousands of pounds of pomace each month, turning it into brand-new foods like crackers and chips, tortillas, granola and burger patties. There's a good deal of fascinating research and development involved, as pomace is a notoriously inconsistent ingredient — fibrous, damp and stiff. The resulting knowledge, however, could prove crucial to cracking the secrets of a lower-waste food system.

So whether it's dog treats or muffins getting the pomace treatment, rest assured that when you buy goods made from spent juicer pulp, you're contributing to the future of food in more ways than one.