Sugar is more than a white or brown granular substance used as a sweetener. Sugar is a carbohydrate and a major source of energy for the body. But there are different kinds of sugar, and they come under different names. Reading a label and just looking for "sugar" isn't enough.
When you see the word "sugar" on a label it must be sucrose, the sugar that has been obtained from sugar cane or sugar beets. However, when you see the plural "sugars," it means that there are other types of sugar in the product. Some of these might be naturally occurring sugars, while others may be sugars that have been added during processing.
Three naturally occurring sugars are fructose, sucrose and lactose. Sucrose can be found in fruits and vegetables. Fructose is found in fruit. It's the naturally occurring sucrose and fructose that makes one fruit or vegetable sweeter than another. Lactose is the naturally occurring sugar found in milk.
Common sugars that may be added during processing are corn syrup, also called glucose syrup, high fructose corn syrup, dextrose, fruit juice concentrates and sugar/sucrose. You may also occasionally see invert sugar on a label. Invert sugar is sucrose that has been broken down into its components, fructose and glucose, then recombined in different proportions. This results in a liquid sugar that is used to retain moisture in food.
Corn syrup, high fructose corn syrup and dextrose all come from cornstarch. High fructose corn syrup is corn syrup that has been enriched with fructose. Fruit juice concentrates are fruit juices with the water removed.
Avoiding all sugar is not only unnecessary but impossible. Sugar is in nature as well as in processed foods. However, if you wish to limit sugar in your diet, you will need to read all labels.
What to Look for
It's helpful to remember that all ingredients ending in "ose" are carbohydrates, which include sugar and starch.
Read the Nutrition Fact Panel as well as the ingredients. The Nutrition Fact Panel can be found on the back or side of a package. This panel will give you the weight of the nutritional components of the food, per serving size. The serving size is listed at the top of the panel. The percentages refer to percentage of a 2,000-calorie daily diet, not the percentages of that component per serving. The Nutrition Fact Panel will also tell you the how many calories there are in a serving.
Common Pitfalls
It's tempting to just read the front of a package to determine whether the product is less sugar, low-sugar or sugar-free and then make the assumption that the product is also low in total carbohydrates or calories. However, in order to make up for the sweetness of sugar, other ingredients may have been added. These ingredients may be alternate sweeteners containing carbohydrates and additional calories. Remember to read the package thoroughly.
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