1. Food labels are confusing and not easy to understand for a lay person
2. The ambiguity is higher if you’re wanting to know how much sugar a product actually contains.

You may have commonly come across the labels ‘No added sugar’, ‘Unsweetened’ or ‘Sugar-free’ on various products. Let’s understand what these three terms actually mean.

Understanding the Difference Between Sugar-Free, Unsweetened and No Added Sugar

1. No added sugar

If no sugar or sugar-containing products are added during processing, then a product can be labelled as ‘No Added Sugar”. It can’t be presumed to be free of sugar though. It simply means that the manufacturer didn’t add any sugar during the process of manufacturing. A product with a ‘No Added Sugar’ label may still contain natural sugars, artificial sweeteners or sugar alcohols. Foods commonly carrying this claim are granola bars, spreads, fruit juices and preserves.

2. Unsweetened

If you see this term on a food label, it means the product contains no added sugars, no artificial sweeteners, and no sugar alcohols whatsoever. So does that mean you have found your safe zone? Well, at least there are no artificial sweetening additives in your product. However, it doesn’t mean the food contains no sugar at all, as it may have naturally occurring sugars. For instance, even single-ingredient products like juices will have fructose or fruit sugar. Yet it will be labelled as ‘No Added Sugar’ or ‘Unsweetened’ on the food pack wherein the natural sugar fructose present in the fruit may contribute as much as 20g of sugar in a 200ml glass of juice.

3. Sugar-free

This tag is most popular with diabetics, for obvious reasons. For a product to be labelled sugar-free, it should contain no more than 0.5g of naturally occurring or added sugars in a single serving. The catch here is that artificial sweeteners or sugar alcohols may not be included in this 0.5g.

Be careful while buying products with a sugar-free label on the packaging. Scan the ingredients to check if other sources of sugar are on the list. If there are other ingredients like artificial sweeteners or fructose, know that they will contribute to your total calorie intake from that product. Common foods that carry this claim are chewing gums, syrups, candies and juices.

How a ‘Sugar-Free’ Product is Made Sweet

In order to meet the regulations laid down by authorities like FDA in the US and FSSAI in India, food manufacturers add sweetening agents like sugar alcohols [also called polyols] to the product. Sugar alcohols have a chemical structure that partially resembles both sugar and alcohol, hence the name. However, they do not contain any alcohol. By adding these substances, they can make the product sweet and at the same time reap the benefits of adding labels like ‘no added sugar’ or ‘sugar-free’ on the product. Food manufacturers use food label making software to customize sugar alcohol labels and generate nutrition and marketing claims based on the latest regulatory requirements.

Sugar alcohols are either natural or artificial, have the same or higher sweetness quotient and are lower in calories. These products are as palatable as any regular sugary processed food. They also work as a bulking agent in the product, but provide you with almost no nutrition.

Related » How to Plan the Right Meals for Those With Diabetes

How to Know if Your Food Contains Sugar Alcohols

Look for these names on the food label:

• Erythritol
• Isomalt
• Maltitol
• Mannitol
• Sorbitol
• Xylitol

These are the most commonly used sugar alcohol additives.

Is It Safe to Consume Products With Sugar Alcohols?

Occasional consumption of artificial sweeteners and sugar alcohols is fine, however prolonged or excess consumption of such products should be avoided. While these products are definitely low on calories and could help one’s transition from a regular sugary diet to one with reduced sugar, but they do have a flip side to them.

1. 1. If you are a diabetic or you are on a keto diet, you need to watch out for polyols, as these substances are essentially carbohydrates and will set your sugars off. You may consume these under the impression that they are helping to keep your sugars in control or supporting your keto diet. But, sugar alcohols like isomalt, maltitol, mannitol etc can contribute to anywhere between 1.5kcal to 3 kcal/gm.
   2. Over consumption of products with sugar alcohol could have a laxative like effect and you may experience gas, bloating and diarrhea.
   3. Most of these sweeteners are way higher on the sweetness index as compared to natural sugar. Overconsumption of these can impair the sweet receptors in the body due to over-stimulation. Consequently, you will not find sweet foods sweet enough and will have to add extra sugar. It will also hamper your tastes for naturally sweet foods like fruits and certain vegetables.
   4. There’s also a psychological angle to this. If you think you have controlled your calorie intake through the day because you had more of “Sugar-free” foods, you may be tempted to reward yourself by having extra servings of other sweet foods. This could be especially detrimental to diabetics. Teens tend to binge on colas because they believe that choosing the diet version makes it less harmful, and they end up consuming much more than they usually would.

Be Mindful of Your Choices

As a health conscious consumer, be mindful of the choices you make.

1. Always read the nutritional label and particularly the serving size
2. Read the ingredients well and be aware of these hidden additives that could hinder your journey towards a healthier you
3. Use natural ingredients as sweet enhancers, like dates, raisins, figs.

The post The Truth Behind Sugar-Free, Unsweetened, and No Added Sugar appeared first on Complete Wellbeing.

A nutrition label can vary from being reasonably honest to outrightly deceptive. Indeed, the information can be portrayed in such a manner that the consumer is made to believe that a particular product is “Healthy” or “Good” even when it’s not necessarily so.

Consider the words “Cholesterol Free”, which are used so loosely that you may believe that a particular product is specially made to be so. However, the fact is that some products are by nature cholesterol-free. For instance, vegetable oils are inherently free of cholesterol and thus labelling it as “Cholesterol Free” implies that the manufacturer or marketer is deliberately misguiding the consumers.

Another example is when manufacturers use confusing terms. For instance “Wheat flour” sounds wholesome, right? Turns out that it’s a code for refined white flour, which is not healthy at all.

We can avoid falling in such traps laid for uninformed or misinformed consumers by learning to read the labels and making informed purchases. Refer the label below

Serving Size

Start reading your label from here. This will tell you the size of a single serving and the total number of servings per package. E.g. This particular sample of a nutrition label says the container serves two servings and each serving is 228 grams or one cup.

Check Calories

Check the calories per serving. In this label it’s 250 cals/cup and if you consume the whole pack you are getting 500 cals.

Percentage Daily Value

These numbers reflect in percent the amount of nutrients you get from one serving of this particular product towards your daily diet. Use it to choose foods that are high in the nutrients you should get more of, and low in the nutrients you should get less of.  5% or less is low, 20% or more is high. So a 25% Daily Value of vitamin C might be a great choice but a food contributing to 25% Daily Value of sugars may be a bad choice.

Limit these nutrients

The following nutrients are normally calorie dense or may contribute to conditions such as hypertension or cardiovascular disease.

1. Fat: Calories from fat should constitute no more than 20% of the total calories. On the nutrition label, items are listed in descending order by weight, so the position of an item in the list indicates whether there’s a little of it or a lot.

   Fat free

   Watch out for the term “Fat Free”. By just displaying the term “Fat Free’ the product has a 90% advantage of being picked up over its competitor on the shelf. The term gained momentum after saturated fats and trans fat got flak from the health fraternity for the harmful effects they have on our body.

   Based on a 2,000-calorie diet, one should not consume more than 11-13 grams of saturated fat and very little, preferably zero, trans fat. Don’t blindly choose “fat free” or “low fat” as it might not mean calorie free. In order to enhance the flavour of low fat food, manufacturers often add extra sugar, which adds to extra calories.

2. Sodium: The thumb rule of sodium intake is that the milligrams of sodium per serving should be less than the calories per serving.If your diet is 2000 kcal, you should keep the sodium intake to 2000 or preferably 1500 milligrams. If you can keep the ratios below 1:1 with each item you eat, you’ll stay under your salt limit.

Beneficial nutrients

Make sure you get enough beneficial nutrients such as dietary fibre, protein, calcium, iron, vitamins and other nutrients every day.

1. Dietary fibre: Look for at least 3-5 grams of dietary fibre per 100 calories.
2. Protein: You can stop worrying about this one. Protein is found in nearly every food, from chicken to oatmeal. As long as you’re consuming enough calories from a variety of foods to maintain a healthy weight, you’re likely getting the recommended amount of protein. The thumb rule is you should be eating 0.8gm to 1 gm/ kg body weight of protein.
3. Minerals & vitamins: Read the label to see how much calcium the food contains.
   » 5% DV or less is low.
   » 20% DV or more is high.
   » Select foods that are high in minerals and vitamins as often as possible.

Some pointers to help you make a more informed choice

“No added sugar” or “Sugar-free”

Sugar-free products have less than 0.5 grams of sugars per serving, but they still contain calories and carbohydrates from other sources.

When buying bread

When shopping for bread, look for the words whole grain or 100% whole wheat. It’s not enough if it says multigrain. Check the ingredients and see the order in which the ingredients are listed. First on the list means higher quantity and vice-versa.

Don’t go by colour alone while buying bread. Some darker breads or crackers may have caramel or food colour and are no healthier than highly refined white breads.

Look for bread with less than 100 calories and 150 milligrams of sodium per slice, and at least three grams of fibre (which rules out white bread).

Gluten free

Many companies are trying to capitalise on the buzzword “gluten” these days. Gluten is a protein found in grains. Unless one suffers from gluten allergy or celiac and metabolic syndrome, it  hardly matters if your food contains gluten.

Serving size

Food labels can be tricky with serving sizes. You need to brush up math basics to get this right. To make a product look low in fat or calories, labels may list information based on a tiny, unrealistic serving size. So, in order to get a realistic picture, you need to calculate the calories based on the portions you eat.

All natural claim

 “All Natural” a widely made claim is often misleading. There is no regulatory definition for “all-natural”. The rule here is read the ingredients and if you can’t pronounce it, don’t buy it as the product is probably not as natural as it claims.

Spending two minutes extra in the shopping market aisle will help you be a more aware consumer and in the course of time you will be an expert in decoding the ever elusive food label.

The post Don’t be misled by what’s on the food label appeared first on Complete Wellbeing.