The Hidden Sugar
The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends that we reduce our added sugar intake to six teaspoons a day. What is added sugar? It’s the sugar that is added to foods by the manufacturer, the cook, or the consumer. It’s the sugar you see on the nutrition facts label of the foods in your refrigerator. It includes sugar found in honey, maple syrup, agave nectar, and fruit juice. It does not include whole fruits like berries or bananas.
The WHO is giving us a serious challenge. To consume only six teaspoons of sugar per day is a challenge because food corporations are doing everything in their power to conceal how much sugar they’re adding to our food. And if you were in doubt, you can know now for certainty, they are adding unreasonable amounts of sugar to our food.
Every food item that is processed in any way (i.e. canned/bottle/packaged) requires a food label. Companies are required to disclose the total amount of sugar in that product as well as the ingredients list that tells us exactly what’s in it. The first problem we run into is that, on the nutrition facts label, the amount of sugar in the product is measured in grams. Most of us don’t look at 24grams and see six teaspoons, but that is the equivalent, and the way we have to look at labels to understand how the added sugar adds up to the WHO’s recommendations. So when I look at my Ketchup bottle and see that it has four grams of sugar per tablespoon, I need to take the time to do the math and realize that every tablespoon of my Ketchup has a teaspoon of sugar, which is one sixth (or 16%) or my total added sugar intake for the day. And then I have to take the extra step in deciding whether I will only be eating one tablespoon of Ketchup, or if I’ll be using two, in which case there’s 32% of my total added sugar intake for the day.
The other major problem we run into is that within the ingredients list there is often sugar in disguise. Added sugar comes in so many different forms that it becomes hard to decipher how many different sugars have been added to a product. Cane sugar might be the very last ingredient, but if it was preceded with dextrose, agave nectar, high fructose corn syrup, glucose, fructose, etc. we can no longer say that sugar is the last ingredient. It’s also helpful to understand that when it comes to fat loss or diabetes prevention, our bodies can’t tell the difference between honey, high fructose corn syrup and organic cane sugar. All of these added sugars are harmful to fat loss and disease prevention.
What can we do about it?
We can buy as much of our food as possible from the meat and produce sections. These are the foods that don’t have nutrition facts labels, so we know that they don’t have added sugar. Broccoli doesn’t need a label.
We can compare packaged products in the grocery store and choose the options with the lowest sugar contents. If I’m buying a new salad dressing, you’ll see me pick up and put down at least five different choices before I decide which one to take home.
We can demand better food labeling guidelines. We can make it clear that every label should have the percentage of our daily value of sugar, like those already listed for certain vitamins and minerals. Write a letter to your MP, let your supermarket’s manager know that you are looking for low sugar options, and educate your kids about how to read a nutrition facts label in order to cut back on added sugar.