The bombardment of information that we are subjected to every time we go shopping is enormous. Surely we have come across labels more than once and twice where information such as “sugar-free” or “no added sugar” appears. A claim that may seem very attractive to us but that often confuses us. At first glance it may seem that we can buy any of the products interchangeably, but each of these statements means something different.
Terms and claims about the nutritional content of sugars, such as “sugar-free” or “no added sugars” are often regulated and may differ from country to country. In all cases, however, in order to make these indications, certain criteria must be met.
Free sugar or non-free sugar
To understand this information well, we will first have to know that there are differences between the different types of sugar. We are not talking about the white sugar that we add to coffee or any other food to sweeten it, but rather the one that is hidden in the foods we consume. Because not all sugars are the same. In food, when we talk about sugar, we must differentiate between free or non-free.
Non-free sugars are those that we find above all in foods such as fruit or vegetables, and they are a recommended source of energy since they are the natural sugars present in whole fruit – fructose – and in milk and natural yogurts – lactose. where we also find vitamins, minerals and, in the case of fruit, fiber and antioxidants.
On the other hand, free sugars are those that are related to negative effects on our health. We are talking about those that are not inherent to foods but are dissolved in them, such as those in juices or honey, and all syrups and syrups. Also included here are added sugars, those added by manufacturers.
The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends that, if we eat free sugars, they provide us with “less than 10% of total energy needs”, equivalent to approximately 50 grams per day, since it has been shown that its intake can be an important source of unnecessary calories, especially for children and adolescents.
It also points out that a reduction to below 5% of total caloric intake (about 25 grams per day) would produce additional benefits. If we look at the results of a study carried out by experts from the University of Granada published in 2023 in NutrientsSpanish children consume more than double the added sugars per day of the WHO recommendations, specifically 55.7 grams per day.
What products can carry the declaration “sugar-free”
This nutritional declaration is allowed for products with a “maximum of 0.5 grams of monosaccharides or disaccharides per 100 grams or 100 milliliters”, as indicated by the Spanish Agency for Food Safety and Nutrition (AESAN). Thus, a tomato sauce might be labeled “no added sugar” but not “sugar-free” because tomatoes naturally contain sugar.
In this case, we may also find statements such as “contains naturally present sugars”. But we can also find this statement in some “0% sugar” buns but for which sweeteners have been used in significant quantities.
What does “no added sugar” mean?
This definition is a little more complex and can give us the feeling that we are looking at a healthy product, even if it is only something that is not entirely true. “No added sugar” can only be used when no monosaccharide, disaccharide or other food has been used or added for its sweetening properties. But this does not necessarily mean that the product is completely free of sugars.
For example, if we have bought a jar of jam that has the label “0% added sugars” it means that it only has the sugars from the strawberry pulp, therefore, less than a conventional one, but it still has more than if we consume the fresh fruit.
Here we could ask ourselves the question of how a taste comparable to sugar is achieved, but without sugar: with the use of sweeteners. It is important to keep in mind that added sugars, which are those that are extracted from their original source and added to foods, usually as a sweetener or preservative, are presented in many and varied forms on the label: dextrose, lactose, molasses , invert sugar, fructose, glucose, maltose, sucrose or glucose syrup.
Sweetening a food with concentrates, smoothies, juices or purees of fresh or dried fruit such as dates, provides free sugars, therefore, the declaration may become a contradiction with what European legislation establishes.
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), in the opinion on the dietary reference values for carbohydrates and fibre, also included sugar and defined the term “added sugars” as “sucrose, fructose, glucose, starch hydrolysates such as glucose syrup, high fructose syrup , and other isolated sugar preparations used as such.”
On the other hand, sugar alcohols such as sorbitol, xylitol, mannitol or lactitol are not included in the term “sugars”. Therefore, a specific food may not contain added sugar but does have a sweetener.
In conclusion, we are faced with two declarations (“sugar-free” and “no added sugar”), which in the European Union are determined by the Regulation (EC) 1924/2006, which do not mean that the food is 100% sugar-free. Faced with this situation, the recommendation to observe on the label not only whether it contains sugar or not but also the rest of the components on the list of ingredients is justified.
The study cited above and published in Nutrients that 65% of the added sugars consumed daily by Spanish children come from foods with low bone density such as white sugar, jams, sauces, candies, soft drinks, ice cream, cookies, fruit nectars, pastries and industrial pastries, among others. .
Limit consumption of free and added sugars
Whatever the label that accompanies a certain food, the recommendation that comes from the EFSA is to “limit the intake of added and free sugars” and that this be “as low as possible, in line with a nutritionally adequate diet” because Its consumption is associated with certain health problems.
Obesity, cavities or hypertension are some of those that it lists and places special emphasis on the consumption of juices, pastry products, concentrated juices or sugary drinks as some of the main sources of sugar in our diet.
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