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Apr 4, 2022
Did you know that sugar is the most popular ingredient added to foods in the US? It’s not always so obvious either. We all know that sugar is added to foods like candy, cookies, ice cream, cereal, soda and other obviously sweetened foods but I think you may be a little surprised to know that sugar has also made its way into many processed foods like ketchup, bread, tomato sauce, salsa, soups and broths, salad dressings, mayonnaise, processed meats, and even “health foods” like plant-based milks, nut butters and veggie burgers. In fact, it’s estimated that approximately 74 percent of processed foods contain added sugar stealthily hidden under more than 50 plus different names.
Added sugars are sugars and syrups that are added to foods or beverages when they are processed or prepared. This does not include naturally occurring sugars such as those in milk and fruits.
If you want to cut down on added sugar in your diet, the first step is to cut down on highly-processed foods. The second step is to start reading labels. Start by checking out the Nutrition Facts panel on the label to see just how much sugar is in a serving size of that food. Food and beverage manufacturers in the U.S. have been required to list a product’s total amount of sugar per serving, but they didn’t need to disclose how much of that sugar is added versus naturally occurring. Fortunately, that is changing and by 2021 all Nutrition Facts panels will include a line disclosing “added sugars”.
If you want to cut down on added sugar in your diet, the first step is to cut down on highly-processed foods. The second step is to start reading labels. Start by checking out the Nutrition Facts panel on the label to see just how much sugar is in a serving size of that food. Food and beverage manufacturers in the U.S. have been required to list a product’s total amount of sugar per serving, but they didn’t need to disclose how much of that sugar is added versus naturally occurring. Fortunately, that is changing and by 2021 all Nutrition Facts panels will include a line disclosing “added sugars”.
Next you want to scan the ingredients to identify hidden sugars. Unfortunately, very few manufacturers call sugar by that name on the label and often use names that are more difficult to decode. As I said yesterday, anything with an “ose” ending is most likely sugar. Here are those plus some of the other names that the food industry uses for added sugars on labels:
Very important: Now that you know all the possible names for hidden sugars, you want to scan the ingredients once again to make sure that there are no added sugars in the first 3 ingredients, otherwise, sugar is a primary ingredient and you can just put that product right back on the shelf. Beware though, food manufacturers do a sneaky thing called “label splitting”. By putting two or three different types of sugar in the label, and calling them each a different name, they can spread out the sugar across several ingredients and have them show up further down the list. And this is precisely why there are so many names for sugar!
As mentioned above, 74% of processed foods contain hidden added sugars. Here is a list of the where they are coming from, highest percentage to lowest:
Used in moderation, there are a few natural sweeteners that stand out among the rest because they actually do have some nutritional value. They are the following:
