No Sugar Added...?

Published March 9, 2024

This discovery caught me a bit off-guard because it prompted me to read between the lines.

While browsing the juice section of a supermarket, I noticed a very nice-looking bottle of natural juice. Thirsty and seeking something healthy, I started reading the label. It caught my attention that it stated "No sugar added." After checking the nutrition facts and doing the math, I realized it had more "natural" sugar than soda. To put it into perspective, regular soda contains around 3.33 grams of sugar per fluid ounce, and this particular juice contained 3.63 grams of sugar per fluid ounce. That's about 9% more sugar than sodas. As I mentioned before in my ketchup post, most people agree that sodas are unhealthy, but juices are not perceived the same way because they are "natural."

Nutrition labels list total sugars, including naturally occurring sugars and added sugars. If the label does not explicitly mention added sugars, it is assumed the sugars contained in the product are naturally occurring, as in the case of natural juices. The tricky part is that natural sugars and added sugars are essentially the same. The difference is that added sugars were not originally present and were added later. We have to remember that table sugar is extracted from the juice of sugar cane or beets, concentrated, and then refined to crystal form.

Natural juices are the equivalent of cane juice. Essentially, they are sugary water with flavor, and while some vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients might remain, the high concentration of sugar undoes any benefit they might provide. Fruits are natural and healthy as long as they are consumed whole. Otherwise, what is being consumed is sugary flavored water, retaining some of the fruit's benefits but lacking fiber, which mitigates the harmful effects of sugar in the body.

Conclusion

"No sugar added" on a label does not mean the product is healthy or sugar-free.

References

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