When reading food labels, sugar often becomes the focus because sugar can raise blood glucose levels. However, you should also be considering the total carbohydrates in a food. Sugar is a type of carbohydrate, and all carbohydrates, sugars and starches, raise blood glucose levels.

Sugar is sugar, but some forms are better than others depending on the food you choose. Rather than avoiding all sugars, consider whether a product is a fresh and minimally processed wholefood, that is high in fibre and/or other nutrients.

The nutrition information panel on back of a product includes sugar as part of the total carbohydrate listing, as well as providing it separately as sugars. The total carbohydrate listing also includes naturally occurring sugars such as those found in fruit (fructose) or dairy (lactose), and sugars that are added as an ingredient during manufacturing.

The list of ingredients

Everything in the ingredient list is shown in descending order, therefore the first ingredient is used in the largest amount and the last ingredient listed has been used in the lowest. Avoid choosing products that have any sugars listed as the first three to four ingredients, or those that have multiple types of sugar named.

There are many different names for sugar, including beet sugar, agave syrup, cane sugar, corn syrup, coconut sugar, caramel, gold syrup, muscovado sugar, rice syrup, sweet sorghum, treacle, date sugar, brown rice syrup, agave, barley malt syrup, and yellow sugar.

‘No added sugar’

In Australia, nutritional claims such as no added sugar are regulated by the Food Standards Australia New Zealand. A claim of no added sugar means that the product contains no added sugars, honey, malt or malt extracts, concentrated fruit juice or deionised fruit juice (unless it is a drink, in which case concentrated fruit juice isn’t considered an added sugar).

Using the above definition, no added sugar means the following should not appear in the ingredients list:

• Hexose monosaccharides and disaccharides, including dextrose, fructose, sucrose and lactose
• Starch hydrolysate
• Glucose syrups
• Maltodextrin and similar products
• Products derived at a sugar refinery, including brown sugar and molasses
• Icing sugar
• Invert sugar
• Fruit sugar syrup

However, a product that claims to have no added sugar may still contain:

• Malt or malt extracts
• Sorbitol, mannitol, glycerol, xylitol, polydextrose, isomalt, maltitol, maltitol syrup, erythritol or lactitol

Remember, a product that has no added sugar can still have carbohydrate-containing ingredients, which means they will be broken down into glucose when digested, raising your blood glucose levels.

Does the food contain other nutritional benefits?

Sometimes a focus just on sugar means you forget the other nutritional benefits of a food, for example fruit and milk. While a piece of fruit contains sugars it also contains fibre. The fibre is not only important for gut health but also slows down how quickly you digest the fruit so you don’t get the same spike as you would from a doughnut.

Next time you see no added sugar, always remember to also check the ingredients list and the nutrition information panel to help you make the most informed decision.

By Michelle Tong Accredited Practising Dietitian and Credentialled Diabetes Educator