A package can say "sugar-free" and still hold sugars.
All it has to do is avoid the word sugar.
Sugar goes by about 60 names on labels
- •Ending in -ose: fructose, glucose, maltose, lactose, invert sugar
- •Syrups: starch syrup, corn syrup, high-fructose corn syrup, rice syrup, agave syrup
- •Concentrates: fruit juice concentrate, apple concentrate, grape concentrate
- •The wholesome-looking ones: honey, grain syrup, brown sugar, raw sugar, coconut sugar
Honey and grain syrup work in your body almost exactly like sugar. Per 100 g, honey is 294 kcal and sugar is 387 kcal. Honey looks lower because it holds water.
Know the labeling rules and the front of the box stops working
| Label | What it means |
|---|---|
| Sugars free | Under 0.5 g of sugars per 100 g (or ml) |
| Low sugars | 5 g or less per 100 g, 2.5 g or less per 100 ml |
| No sugar added | No table sugar was added (fruit sugars can be there) |
| Unsweetened | No sugars were added (the sugars in the ingredients stay) |
That rule is why a "no sugar added" juice can hold 20 g of sugars. Nobody added them. The fruit had them.
The daily recommendation is 50 g of sugars
| Food | Serving | Sugars |
|---|---|---|
| Cola, 250 ml | 1 can | 26 g |
| Fruit juice, 200 ml | 1 pack | 20 g |
| Sweetened yogurt | 1 cup | 15 g |
| Cereal bar | 1 bar | 10 g |
| Instant coffee mix | 1 stick | 6 g |
The WHO recommends staying under 10% of your daily calories, and under 5% if you can. On 2,000 kcal that is 50 g and 25 g.
One pack of juice and one yogurt already puts you at 35 g.
A three-second check on the back
- •Read the "sugars" grams in the nutrition panel. Skip the front of the package
- •Read the first three items in the ingredient list. Earlier means more
- •If two or three sugars appear under different names, add them together
Splitting sugar across several names pushes each one further down the ingredient list. Three separate syrups add up to a lot.
Cut the sweetness and your tongue follows in three weeks
Your sense of sweetness shifts with habit. Two to three weeks after quitting sweetened drinks, the ones you used to drink taste too sweet.
From there it stops being restraint. You just do not want it.
Sources · Korea's food labeling standards (Ministry of Food and Drug Safety) · WHO guideline on sugars intake · food nutrient database