The Many Names of Sugar

As I’ve mentioned before food labels can be very confusing, tricky, and even misleading.  When sugar is listed as an ingredient there is no mistake sugar is included in the product, but did you know dextrose, maltose, and molasses are also sugar?  The higher sugar is on the ingredient list the more sugar contained in the product. 
When my son was younger I taught him how to read cereal labels.  He was allowed to choose cereals with 6 grams of sugar or less per serving (that’s still one-and-half teaspoons).  Remember, 4 grams of sugar = 1 teaspoon.  The total grams of sugar reveal the total amount of all sugars in a product.  Unfortunately, the label does not differentiate between natural occurring sugars (e.g., milk products and fruit) and added sugars. 
Below is a list of added sugars to be aware of when reviewing food labels – one product may contain several different types of sugar:

·         Brown sugar

·         Corn sweetener

·         Corn syrup

·         Fruit juice concentrates

·         High-fructose corn syrup

·         Honey

·         Invert sugar

·         Malt sugar

·         Molasses

·         Raw sugar

·         Sugar

·         Sugar molecules ending in “ose” (dextrose, fructose, glucose, lactose,
        maltose, sucrose)

·         Syrup
The food label exposes what really is in a product!  It takes practice and patience to learn what you’re really eating, but your health is worth the effort!