John Steven "Jay" Kordich (August 26, 1923 – May 27, 2017) was an American author and advocate of juicing and juice fasting. Kordich was best known as the "Juiceman" and the "Father of Juicing" in the United States.
Kordich authored The New York Times best seller The Juiceman's Power of Juicing, first published in 1992.[4][5] He was involved in advertising a series of juicers, including the Juiceman Juicer. He lectured on the subject and appeared in television infomercials for the Juiceman Juicer.[4] The product was one of the first products and brands to be sold through the infomercial format[citation needed] at the peak of the juicing craze in the summer of 1992.[6] It was marketed by Rick Cesari's Trillium HealthProducts, which had more than $100 million in sales attributed in part to the direct marketing of the Juiceman Juicer.[7] In 2011, Kordich developed the Jay Kordich PowerGrind Pro juicer.[5]
In 1992, Consumer Reports tested Kordich's Juiceman II extractor and concluded that other competitive models were easier to clean, cheaper, and worked better. Kordich's health claims in regard to juicing have been disputed by medical experts.[8][9] For example, Kordich stated that he was influenced by the Gerson diet and was cured of cancer when he was 20 by consuming 13 glasses of apple and carrot juice each day.[8][9]
The Juiceman Juicer and Jay Kordich were parodied by Jim Carrey on the popular skit show In Living Color in the "Juice Weasel" sketch. One of the jokes being his juice diet being so healthy, he outlived his children.[12]
^ abcdBarrett, Stephen; Herbert, Victor. (1994). The Vitamin Pushers: How the "Health Food" Industry is Selling America a Bill of Goods. Prometheus Books. pp. 161-162. ISBN0-87975-909-7
^ abFrey, Rebecca J. (2008). Juice fasts. In Jacqueline L. Longe. The Gale Encyclopedia of Diets: A Guide to Health and Nutrition. The Gale Group. p. 594. ISBN978-1-4144-2991-5
^Iacobbo, Karen; Iacobbo, Michael. (2006). Vegetarians and Vegans in America Today. Praeger. p. 76. ISBN0-275-99016-8
