Whether you're counting carbohydrates, watching calories or monitoring fat in your diet, food labels are a useful resource to help you make healthier choices. Certain types of information are grouped together on food labels, such as the total fat content and the amount of saturated and trans fats, if any, the food provides. The relationship between carbs and sugar follows a similar pattern.
Carbohydrate Facts
The three primary types of carbs include sugars, starches and fiber. Carb-containing foods, contain one or more of these forms of carbs. Sugars are a type of carb that occurs naturally in some types of food, but can also be added to foods to enhance taste. While natural sugars are part of the nutrient package in foods such as fruits, vegetables and dairy products, sugars are often added to desserts, certain beverages, cereals and other processed foods -- even dried fruit.
Food Labels
The nutrition facts label on packaged foods helps you identify the calorie content, as well as the content of specific nutrients such as dietary fat, cholesterol and sodium. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration, or FDA, also requires that food manufacturers identify the carb content of foods, as well as the amount of sugars and fiber the product provides. Dietary fiber and sugars are listed below total carbs because they represent part or all of the carb content.
Relationship
The dietary fiber and sugar content of foods is often important information to individuals who are trying to increase fiber intake and/or limit sugar intake. Although it can be assumed that foods that contain carbs contain some combination of fiber, sugar and starch, food labels help you determine the composition of the food's carbs. For example, a food label that lists 11 g of carbs, zero grams of fiber and 11 g of sugar per serving indicates that all of that food's carbs come from sugar. On the other hand, a product with 11 g of carbohydrates, 2 g of fiber and 6 g of sugar is presumably composed of fiber, sugar and starch, although food labels don't generally designate starch content.
Added Sugars
When you snack on sweet fresh fruit, such as watermelon or an apple, you know that any sugar you get is a natural ingredient. However, when you purchase processed foods, it's more difficult to discern whether the sugar listed on the nutrition facts label is naturally occurring or added. This can be important because most people consume too much added sugars. Although nutrition labels don't differentiate between natural and added sugars, you can refer to the ingredient list on the package to determine whether sugars were added to the product. Other names for sugar to look for in the ingredients listing include honey, high fructose corn syrup, dextrose, molasses, malt syrup and sucrose.
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