What is cold-pressed juice? HPP and organic explained simply

A cold-pressed juice is pressed without heating. Fruit and vegetables are first chopped and then slowly squeezed with high pressure, rather than being spun in a fast centrifuge. This process generates almost no heat and involves very little contact with oxygen. Both factors help preserve sensitive nutrients like vitamin C.

However, whether a juice is truly good is not determined solely by the pressing process. It is just as important how it is preserved, where the ingredients come from, and how much vegetable content it contains. A cold-pressed juice made from pure apple remains a source of sugar, no matter how gently it was pressed.

We will go through these four points in order so that you can estimate what you are paying for based on the label. To understand whether such a juice is even beneficial as part of a cleanse, take a look at our article: Does a juice cleanse actually do anything?

Most home juicers use a centrifuge. A grating disc shreds the fruit at high speed, and centrifugal force flings the juice through a sieve. This is quick, but it has two side effects: the friction creates heat, and the rotation whips air into the juice, which is visible as foam in the glass.

Cold pressing takes place in two steps. First, the ingredients are ground into a fine pulp, then a hydraulic press slowly squeezes the juice out of this pulp. Nothing spins, nothing gets hot, and the juice has significantly less contact with oxygen.

Why heat and air make such a big difference can be seen with a sliced apple. After a few minutes, the cut surface turns brown; that is oxidation. The same reaction occurs in juice, only faster, if it is warm and full of air bubbles. A cold-pressed juice therefore retains its color longer and tastes more vibrant. Anyone who tries the same celery-cucumber juice once from a centrifuge and once from a press will notice the difference with the very second sip.

Freshly pressed juice is highly perishable. Most manufacturers solve this with pasteurization, i.e., by briefly heating it. This extends shelf life to months, but at the cost of exactly the substances that make the juice valuable. A review study from 2026 summarizes the current state of research, stating that heat treatment costs an average of 50 to 70 percent of natural vitamin C. Processes without heat, on the other hand, often preserve more than 90 percent of it.

The HPP process, which stands for High Pressure Processing, is one of these methods. The already bottled juice is placed in a water tank and subjected to very high pressure, usually 400 to 600 megapascals or around 4,000 to 6,000 bar. This high pressure renders germs harmless without the juice heating up. A 2020 laboratory study tested this on fruit juice. Starting at 400 megapascals, the juice remained microbiologically safe for over 28 days when refrigerated and contained significantly more antioxidants than the heated comparison sample. While this is a single study, its findings align with the review study.

What this means for your body is not necessarily defined—juice is not a medication. Technically, it just means that more of the ingredients end up in your glass. The price paid for this is the cold chain; an HPP juice lasts for weeks instead of months and is therefore found in the refrigerated section.

For juice, "organic" is not a label for peace of mind, but a difference that is measured by official food inspection agencies every year. For the 2024 reporting year, the Federal Office of Consumer Protection and Food Safety analyzed a total of 16,423 food samples for pesticide residues. In 80.1 percent of the organically grown samples, no quantifiable residues were detectable, whereas this was the case for 45.9 percent of conventional products. The levels of residues were also lower in organic fruit and vegetables (Federal Office, published 2026).

This does not mean that conventional produce is dangerous; statutory maximum levels apply to everyone. It means that organic produce is contaminated less frequently and at lower levels. With juice, this is more significant than with an individual apple because a large amount of fruit and vegetables is processed for one bottle, often including the peel, and whatever is on the surface of many fruits ends up in the glass all at once.

For half a liter of green juice, you need a cucumber, several stalks of celery, and a handful of kale, depending on the recipe. Anyone who buys this quantity as organic produce understands why a cold-pressed juice in organic quality cannot be bought for two euros.

Cold-pressed juice is a gentle way to consume fruit and vegetables. It is not a substitute for eating them. During the pressing process, the insoluble dietary fibers remain in the pomace, which is the part that keeps you full and nourishes your gut bacteria. A small 2025 study with 14 participants observed shifts in the oral microbiome after three days of consuming only juice, which the researchers attributed to high amounts of free sugars and a lack of dietary fiber. With 14 people, this is a sign rather than a confirmed finding, but it is a good reason to view juice as a break rather than a long-term solution.

Then there is the sugar content. The World Health Organization (WHO) explicitly classifies sugar from fruit juice as "free sugars," which should account for less than ten percent of daily energy intake. Cold-pressing does not change this. A juice made from apple and orange contains the same amount of fructose, whether it was centrifuged or pressed. The difference is the vegetable content. You can read about how much sugar and how many calories are really in a cleanse in our article on calories and sugar in a juice cleanse.

The final point is expectation. "Cold-pressed" says something about the production process, not about a health effect. Your body has a liver and kidneys to break down metabolic products; a juice does not take over this work.

Take these four points together, and you have a quick checklist for every bottle.

• cold-pressed, meaning pressed without heat
• not pasteurized, but preserved using high pressure, recognizable by the refrigerated section
• ingredient list with vegetables at the start, as it is sorted by quantity
• organic seal, because residues collect in juice from many fruits
• no additives, no added sugar, no concentrates

The ingredient list reveals the most. If apple or grape is listed first, you are holding a sweet fruit juice, even if there is a kale leaf pictured on the front. If cucumber, celery, or spinach are at the front, the juice is vegetable-focused. The nutrition table shows the sugar per 100 milliliters.

The juices for DALUMA juice cleanses are built according to these criteria. Every juice contains up to eleven organic ingredients, is cold-pressed, not pasteurized, and free from preservatives. You can get an overview of all cleanses in our juice cleanse overview. Whether the green or the classic version suits you better can be determined by our comparison green vs. classic juice cleanse.

A cold-pressed juice is more than just a word on the label. Slow pressing without heat and preservation via high pressure instead of heat ensure that Vitamin C and other sensitive ingredients largely remain in the glass.

In the end, the overall picture counts. A really good juice is cold-pressed, preserved using HPP, in organic quality, and with a high vegetable content so that the sugar remains low. It does not replace vegetables on your plate, nor the work of the liver and kidneys. Those who pay attention to this don't pay for colored sugar water, but for the content of fresh ingredients.