Choice Rates Vitality4Life Juicers #1
Choice Magazine – Australia’s Leading Consumer Authority
Australia’s leading consumer authority has the living proof about living juice!
In October
2007, Choice tested the claim that non-centrifugal juicers produce juice
that lasts longer and contains more nutrients.
They found that the manufacturers’ claims are true… and Vitality 4
Life has the best juicers!
Choice confirms, the test shows that the juice from the Hippocrates juicer
contains more nutrients; in fact well over double the beta-carotene and
alpha-carotene of the juice from every other juicer in the test and it
lasts longer.
Manufacturers claim cold-press-style machines’ juice is more nutritious and that it’ll stay fresh and tasty for up to 48 hours. According to the makers, the gentle, slow-turning action of a cold press machine produces a greater quantity of juice, which retains more vitamins, minerals, enzymes, phytochemicals and fibre than that produced by other methods. Their argument is that high-speed centrifugal juicers heat up the juice, allow air to enter and therefore cause damage to some of the perishable nutrients.
Health Claims Tested
| Centrifugal Juicers | Non-centrifugal Juicers | ||
| Less oxidation | The apple juice from the centrifugal juicers separated and went brown a few minutes after juicing | ||
| More fibre | The Greenpower Hippocrates & the Oscar Vital Max scored the highest at 90% on performance | ||
| More nutritious | The Greenpower Hippocrates’ juice contained well over double the beta-carotene and alpha-carotene of the juice from every other juicer in the test | ||
| Greater quantity of juice | Although the cold pressed juicers did produce more juice, the Healthstart Compact scored the lowest for the juice produced because its carrot juice was a little grainy and it produced a lower quantity | ||
| Easier cleaning | All the centrifugal juicers have large, bulky parts that are hard to fit into a domestic sink for cleaning | ||
| Stays fresh for 48 hours | The juice from the non-centrifugal juicers didn’t separate, smelt fresh and looked palatable and green after 48 hours in the fridge |
Choice scored the juicers for performance & ease of use. Choice also tested the manufacturers’ claims that juice made by cold-press-style machines is more nutritious and that it’ll stay fresh and tasty for up to 48 hours.
Key findings:
- All the juicers performed reasonably well, with even the worst getting a good score
- non-centrifugal juicers do extract more nutrients — in some cases double or even three times as much!
- Juice from the non-centrifugal juicers still looked and smelt palatable after 48 hours.
- All the centrifugal juicers have large, bulky parts that are hard to fit into a domestic sink for cleaning.
Nutritional
analysis
Choice tested
the nutritional claims, by sending a sample of carrot juice from each
juicer to a lab to be analysed for minerals (potassium and calcium),
Vitamin C and the phytochemicals alpha and beta-carotene, to see if the
non-centrifugal juicers did extract or retain more nutrients.
The juice from all the non-centrifugal juicers contained about double — in some cases triple — the calcium of the juices produced by the centrifugal juicers (bar one, the Magimix).
The Greenpower Hippocrates’ juice contained well over double the beta-carotene and alpha-carotene of the juice from every other juicer in the test.
Potassium was much the same for all juices tested.
Vitamin C quantities were too low to measure accurately.
How long did the juice stay fresh?

A sample of apple juice from each juicer was refrigerated for 48 hours, then evaluated for colour, overall appearance, smell and texture, to test the claim that juice from non-centrifugal juicers holds up longer.
The apple juice from the centrifugal juicers separated and went brown a few minutes after juicing. After two days it was noticeably deteriorating, didn’t smell fresh, had a hard froth on top (except juice from the Magmix) and a layer of sediment at the bottom — indicating a higher level of oxidation.
By contrast, the juice from the non-centrifugal juicers didn’t separate, smelt fresh and looked palatable and green after 48 hours in the fridge, indicating less oxidation.
And the reason why? It’s possible that the oxidation or friction from higher-speed centrifugal juicers turns the juice bad faster than the slow-turning machines.
Brands Tested
- Greenpower Hippocrates GPT-E1303
- Oscar 900 VitalMAX (Chrome)
- Champion 2000+
- Healthstart Compact
- Breville Ikon Juice Fountain BJE510
- Breville 800 Class 800JE
- Delonghi JE 850 M
- Sunbeam Café Juice JE7600
- Sunbeam Café Series JE8900
- Kambrook Twin Speed Juicer KJE40
- Morphy Richards 48951
- Magimix Le Duo Plus
Test results
Here’s
some test results of the juicers tested by Choice, grouping centrifugal
& non-centrifugal juicers. The overall score is made up of 50%
performance & 50% ease of use.
Performance: The tester processed a kilogram each of carrots, apples, oranges and a combination of watermelon and pineapple. From these, she evaluated each juicer’s abilities across a range of textures and consistencies. She was looking for juice that was smooth rather than pulpy, grainy or frothy.
Ease of use: Included how easy it was to ‘feed’ the juicer (affected by the size of the chute and how small the contents had to be chopped before it would fit), assembly and disassembly of parts, cleaning, use of controls, collecting juice, and removing pulp.
Safety: Each juicer was also assessed to see how easy it was for hands of various sizes to come into contact with the blades through the food chute, when it was fully assembled. Safety wasn’t scored, but you’ll find comments in the profiles.
| Performance | ||||
| Brand/model (in rank order) | Type | Overall score (%) | Performance score (%) | Ease of use score (%) |
Non-centrifugal juicers |
||||
| Greenpower Hippocrates GPT-E1303 |
Cold-press, |
80 | 90 | 70 |
| Oscar 900 VitalMAX (Chrome) |
Cold-press, |
78 | 90 | 66 |
| Champion 2000+ | Single auger, masticating | 74 | 85 | 62 |
| Healthstart Compact | Similar to cold-press, single auger | 72 | 78 | 66 |
Centrifugal juicers |
||||
| Breville Ikon Juice Fountain BJE510 | Centrifugal | 83 | 85 | 80 |
| Breville 800 Class 800JE | Centrifugal | 81 | 83 | 78 |
| Delonghi JE850M | Centrifugal | 80 | 85 | 74 |
| Sunbeam Café Juice JE7600 | Centrifugal | 80 | 83 | 76 |
| Sunbeam Café Series JE8900 | Centrifugal | 80 | 83 | 76 |
| Kambrook Twin Speed Juicer KJE40 | Centrifugal | 75 | 80 | 70 |
| Morphy Richards 48951 | Centrifugal | 75 | 80 | 70 |
| Magimix Le Duo Plus | Centrifugal | 71 | 83 | 58 |
The Healthstart Compact and the Champion produced juice containing high levels of calcium. Apple juice from both looked and smelt palatable after 48 hours. The Healthstart Compact juicer scored the lowest for the juice produced because its carrot juice was a little grainy and it produced a lower quantity.
Benefits
of cold press juicers
There are several advantages to cold press juicers…
- If you store your juice rather than drinking it soon after making it, one of these machines may suit you
- You can also use some of them for food processing, mincing, grinding coffee beans and for making sausages, pasta/noodles, seasonings, nut butter, soy milk, baby food and ice cream
- They have fewer parts and are easier to clean
- The Cold-press juicers can juice wheatgrass and herbs
- Their warranties are generally longer than those for centrifugal juicers
- They’re much quieter than centrifugal models
Choice confirms the test shows that the juice from the Hippocrates juicer contains more nutrients than centrifugal and other cold press models, and it lasts longer.
Conclusion
Non-centrifugal models do produce juice that lasts longer and contains more nutrients.
Choice has rated the Hippocrates juicer by Green Power as the #1 twin gear cold press juicer and the Oscar Vital Max 900 as the #1 single gear cold press juicer!
- Less oxidation - The apple juice from the centrifugal juicers separated and went brown a few minutes after juicing, the juice from the Hippocrates and the Oscar juicer doesn’t separate
- More Fibre - The Greenpower Hippocrates & the Oscar Vital Max scored the highest at 90% on performance
- More Nutritious - The Greenpower Hippocrates’ juice contained well over double the beta-carotene and alpha-carotene of the juice from every other juicer in the test
- Greater Quantity of Juice - The Greenpowerr Hippocrates produces more juice and less pulp than any other juicer.
- Easier Cleaning - Cleaning is much easier than the centrifugal models plus there’s very low noise and continuous juicing
- Stays Fresh for 72 Hours - The juice from the Hippocrates juicer didn’t separate, smelt fresh and looked palatable and green after 48 hours in the fridge and will keep for up to 72 hours!
What to Buy
Choice profiled the Greenpower Hippocrates and the Oscar Vital Max 900, which they considered to be the ‘best of the range’ in cold press juicers.
Greenpower Hippocrates GPT–E1303

Choice has rated the Hippocrates juicer by Green Power as the #1 Twin
Gear Juicer!
Excellent result for orange, carrot and combined pineapple &
watermelon juice, very good for apple juice
Excellent instructional DVD
Large pulp container and good-sized jug
Can process wheatgrass, barley grass, alfalfa, and seeds such as sesame
and pumpkin
Can be used as a food processor for nut butters & dips, meat mincer,
soy milk and tofu maker, frozen dessert and baby food maker and pepper
& coffee grinder
Optional attachable pasta and noodle maker available
Quiet operation, Juice still looks and smells palatable for up to 72 hours
High levels of tested nutrients in juice
12 year warranty
Oscar VitalMax 900

Choice has rated theOscar VitalMax 900as the #1 Single Gear Juicer!
Excellent result for orange, apple, carrot and combination pineapple and
watermelon juice
Other uses include mincing, chopping, sausage making, noodles/pasta, nut
butters, fruit ice creams, purées and desserts
20-year warranty on the motor, five years on parts and labour
Different strainers for different functions, such as juicing and mincing
Juices wheatgrass, barley grass, alfalfa
Quiet operation, Juice still looks and smells palatable for up to 72 hours
Easy to clean
High levels of tested nutrients in juice