Is Clamato Juice Healthy? Nutritional Value & Alternatives to This Savory Beverage

Is Clamato Juice Healthy?

Is Clamato Juice Healthy?
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Updated on August 7, 2025
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Tomato juice may be one of the most prominent ingredients in Clamato juice, but that's about where the healthiness in this savory drink ends. Compared with other vegetable juice options, Clamato may not be the healthiest choice. Often used as a mixer for popular alcoholic beverages, specifically the Michelada, this briny juice contains added sugar and a ton of sodium. Like cocktails, it's best to drink this juice in moderation.

What Is Clamato Juice?

In case you couldn't guess by the name, Clamato is a blend of tomato and clam juice with added spices for flavor. The savory juice was developed in the late 1960s as a refreshing beverage favored by farmers in California.

Despite its origins, Clamato hasn't found too much popularity in the United States, but Mexicans and Canadians enjoy the juice as a mix for savory cocktails.

In addition to the original flavor, you can find Picante, Limón, and Preparado flavors of Clamato juice. Because of the presence of clam broth in Clamato, if you follow a vegetarian or vegan lifestyle, you may want to request your Michelada be made with a different vegetable juice.

What's in Clamato Juice?

If you're watching your added sugar intake or you can't tolerate monosodium glutamate (MSG), you may want to take a good look at the Clamato ingredients list before you whip up a batch of Bloody Caesars, the Clamato version of the Bloody Mary.

In the same order as it appears on the label, the original Clamato contains:

  • Water
  • Tomato concentrate
  • High-fructose corn syrup
  • Salt
  • Citric acid
  • Monosodium glutamate
  • Spices
  • Onion and garlic powder
  • Jalapeño pepper puree
  • Natural flavors
  • Ascorbic acid
  • Dried clam broth
  • Disodium inosinate
  • Disodium guanylate
  • Red 40
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) requires that ingredients on a food label be placed in order of predominance.

That means that, after water and tomato juice, Clamato contains a significant amount of added sugar in the form of high-fructose corn syrup, which you may find a bit surprising, given the savory nature of the beverage. High-fructose corn syrup encourages fat production and increases inflammation in the body, so it's definitely an ingredient you want to avoid.

Clamato Nutrition Facts

Despite being a source of added sugar, Clamato is low in calories and fat-free, but not a very good source of protein or any vitamins or minerals. Clamato nutrition facts in an 8-ounce (oz) serving of any flavor include:

  • 60 calories
  • 0g fat
  • 790 to 820mg of sodium (depending on the flavor)
  • 12 to 13g of carbohydrates
  • 9g of added sugar
  • 1g protein
  • 4% to 8% of the daily value (DV) for vitamin A
  • 4% DV for vitamin C

The Preparado flavor also provides 2 percent of the DV for iron, while the Picante flavor contains 1 g of fiber.

Watch Out for Sodium

With about 800 mg of sodium per serving, Clamato is a high-sodium drink. Americans already consume too much sodium, averaging about 3,400 mg a day. High intakes of sodium increase your risk of high blood pressure, heart attack, and stroke. For better health, experts recommend you keep your daily sodium intake to less than 2,300 mg a day.

One serving of the Clamato drink uses up more than half the daily recommendation for people with heart disease, or about one-third for others. Unlike V8 juice, Clamato isn't available in a low-sodium version.

Clamato Juice vs. V8 Juice

If you're looking for a healthy vegetable juice, V8 is a better choice than Clamato. Unlike Clamato, V8 doesn't contain any added sugar, and its list of ingredients includes the reconstituted juice of tomatoes, carrots, celery, beets, parsley, and other healthy vegetables.

The benefits of V8 juice also extend to its micronutrient content. One cup of original V8 meets 20 percent of the DV for vitamin A and 80 percent of the DV for vitamin C. However, V8 is a source of sodium; though with 640 mg per serving, it's not as bad as Clamato. But low-sodium V8 only has 140 mg of sodium per 8 oz.

Beware of the MSG

MSG is a flavor enhancer that's added to a number of foods and, according to the FDA, is generally recognized as safe. However, some people claim to experience ill effects when eating foods that contain MSG.

These symptoms include:

  • Headaches
  • Nausea or vomiting
  • Flushing
  • Sweating
  • Chest pain

Despite the many anecdotal claims of reactions to MSG, researchers have failed to find a direct connection between MSG and various symptoms.

That said, if you think you have tolerance issues with MSG, you may want to stay away from Clamato juice to prevent a reaction. MSG is the fourth ingredient listed on the label, just under high-fructose corn syrup.

The Takeaway

  • Clamato contains an excessive amount of sodium and is a source of added sugar.
  • The juice contains high-fructose corn syrup and MSG, which causes reactions in some people, despite being labeled as safe by the FDA.
  • For a healthier savory juice option, reach for V8, which doesn't contain added sugar and is made of reconstituted juices from a variety of vegetables.
EDITORIAL SOURCES
Everyday Health follows strict sourcing guidelines to ensure the accuracy of its content, outlined in our editorial policy. We use only trustworthy sources, including peer-reviewed studies, board-certified medical experts, patients with lived experience, and information from top institutions.
Resources
  1. Clamato Products. Clamato.
  2. Types of Food Ingredients. U.S. Food and Drug Administration. July 6, 2023.
  3. What Is High Fructose Corn Syrup? And Why It's Bad For You. Cleveland Clinic. April 1, 2025.
  4. Clamato Nutrition Facts. Keurig Dr Pepper.
  5. Sodium in Your Diet. U.S. Food and Drug Administration. March 5, 2024.
  6. Excess Levels of Sodium: How Too Much Sodium Affects Your Health. American Heart Association. 2022.
  7. Original 100% Vegetable Juice. Campbells.
  8. Low Sodium Original 100% Vegetable Juice. Campbells.
  9. What Is MSG? Is It Bad for You? Mayo Clinic. February 7, 2025.
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Reyna Franco, RDN

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Reyna Franco, RDN, is a New York City–based dietitian-nutritionist, certified specialist in sports dietetics, and certified personal trainer. She is a diplomate of the American College of Lifestyle Medicine and has a master's degree in nutrition and exercise physiology from Columbia University.

In her private practice, she provides medical nutrition therapy for weight management, sports nutrition, diabetes, cardiac disease, renal disease, gastrointestinal disorders, cancer, food allergies, eating disorders, and childhood nutrition. To serve her diverse patients, she demonstrates cultural sensitivity and knowledge of customary food practices. She applies the tenets of lifestyle medicine to reduce the risk of chronic disease and improve health outcomes for her patients.

Franco is also a corporate wellness consultant who conducts wellness counseling and seminars for organizations of every size. She taught sports nutrition to medical students at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, taught life cycle nutrition and nutrition counseling to undergraduate students at LaGuardia Community College, and precepts nutrition students and interns. She created the sports nutrition rotation for the New York Distance Dietetic Internship program.

She is the chair of the American College of Lifestyle Medicine's Registered Dietitian-Nutritionist Member Interest Group. She is also the treasurer and secretary of the New York State Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, having previously served in many other leadership roles for the organization, including as past president, awards committee chair, and grant committee chair, among others. She is active in the local Greater New York Dietetic Association and Long Island Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, too.

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