V8 (drink) facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
V8 vegetable juice

V8 juices exhibited at a store in Hong Kong
Product type	Vegetable juice
Owner	Campbell's
Country	United States
Introduced	1933; 92 years ago (1933)
Markets	North America, U.K., Australia

V8 is a well-known brand of drinks. These drinks are made from eight different vegetables. Some V8 drinks also mix vegetables with fruits. Since 1948, the company Campbell's has owned the V8 brand.

The first V8 vegetable juice was mostly made from tomatoes. It got its name because it used juice from eight different vegetables.

History of V8 Juice

An American child during World War II (1943) buys a can of V8. They are using their ration book.

V8 Vegetable Juice was created by Frank Constable in Chicago, Illinois. He worked for the New England Products Company. This company already made individual vegetable juices.

In 1947, Frank Constable made a new recipe for "Vege-min 8 Vegetable Cocktail Juice." This recipe is still used today. He named the product "V8" after the powerful V8 engine.

In 1948, Campbell Soup Company bought the V8 brand. Campbell's has continued to make V8 juice ever since. V8 Juice was stopped being sold in the UK in 2023.

Types of V8 Drinks

The first V8 juice has a savory (not sweet) taste. It is mainly made from water and tomato concentrate. It also has juice from eight specific vegetables. These are beets, celery, carrots, lettuce, parsley, watercress, spinach, and tomato.

Campbell's makes many kinds of V8 juice. Some popular ones include Original, Spicy Hot, and Low-Sodium. There are also organic versions.

V8 Fruit & Vegetable Blends

V8 also makes drinks that mix fruit and vegetable juices. These are called V8 100% Fruit & Vegetable Juice. They give you one serving of vegetables and one serving of fruits. These drinks are also known as V8 V-Fusion in some places.

There are also "light" versions of these drinks. They have less juice and fewer calories. V8 V-Fusion + Tea was also introduced. It has half a serving of vegetables and half a serving of fruits.

Some flavors of these blended juices are:

• Strawberry Banana: Made with sweet potatoes, tomatoes, carrots, beets, grapes, oranges, apples, strawberries, and bananas.
• Pomegranate Blueberry: Contains sweet potatoes, purple carrots, tomatoes, carrots, apples, and white grapes.
• Tropical Orange: Has sweet potatoes, carrots, yellow tomatoes, squash, white grapes, oranges, and pineapples.
• Peach Mango: Includes sweet potatoes, yellow tomatoes, squash, white grapes, oranges, peaches, and mangoes.
• Açaí Mixed Berry: Made with sweet potatoes, carrots, apples, white grapes, açaí berries, blueberries, and limes.
• Cranberry Blackberry: Contains sweet potatoes, purple carrots, carrots, apples, white grapes, cranberry, blackberry, and lemon juice.
• Goji Raspberry: Has sweet potatoes, purple carrots, carrots, apples, white grapes, cherries, strawberries, blackberry, oranges, goji, red raspberry, and lemon juice.

In Australia, the V8 range includes 100% Fruit & Vegetable Juice in flavors like Tropical, Breakfast, and Pineapple Passion.

In 2015, the V8 Power Blend range was launched in Australia. These juices have two servings of vegetables. Flavors include Healthy Greens, Purple Power, and Orange Kick.

V8 Energy Drinks

V8 also makes energy drinks that are juice-based. They come in individual aluminum cans. Each can has 80 mg of caffeine from green tea. They also have added B vitamins.

V8 Energy drinks usually have less sugar than regular V8 juices. They are partly sweetened with sucralose. Unlike some other energy drinks, V8 Energy does not contain taurine or guarana.

• V8 +Energy: This is a non-bubbly drink with 50% juice. It comes in different flavors like black cherry, peach-mango, and pomegranate-blueberry.
• V8 +Energy Sparkling: This is a bubbly drink with 34% juice. Flavors include Orange Pineapple, White Grape Raspberry, and Black Cherry.

Nutrition Information

A 1947 advertisement for V8 juice.

Here is some example nutrition information for V8 Vegetable Juice:

V8 in Other Drinks

V8 juice is sometimes used in mixed drinks. One example is the "bloody eight," which is like a Bloody Mary but uses V8 instead of tomato juice.

V8 also sells its own Bloody Mary mix. This mix uses only tomato and lemon juices.

V8 Slogans Over Time

Here are some of the catchy phrases V8 has used in its advertisements:

• "Wow, It Sure Doesn't Taste like Tomato Juice!" (1960s)
• "Drink V8 & Keep Your Diet Straight!" (1990s–present)
• "Drink Smarter with V8." (2000–present)
• "Drink It. Feel It." (2003–2004)
• "Should've Had a V8." (1970s-1980s, 2009–present)
• "Veg up." (present)

See also

• List of juices