The Health Guru

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How to find ‘hidden’ sugar on food labels

Posted on | October 18, 2013 | No Comments

 

Read food labels carefully

Read food labels carefully

There are many different names for sugar. Two really ‘clever’ ways to disguise sugar in food labels is to use a long, scientific sounding word or to rename the sugar altogether.

Ingredients Ending in -ose

One of the easiest ways to recognize sugar in a food label is by recognizing the -ose suffix. When you find words that end in -ose, there’s a good chance it is sugar. Sugars ending in -ose are:

  • Sucrose
  • Maltose
  • Dextrose
  • Fructose
  • Glucose
  • Galactose
  • Lactose
  • High fructose corn syrup
  • Glucose solids

Re-naming Sugar

Just because it doesn’t end in -ose, however, doesn’t mean it isn’t sugar. There are plenty of other names as well that may or may not sound like sugar. Regardless of how they sound, the following are all sugar:

  • Cane juice
  • Dehydrated cane juice
  • Cane juice solids
  • Cane juice crystals
  • Molasses
  • Honey
  • Dextrin
  • Maltodextrin
  • Dextran
  • Barley malt
  • Beet sugar
  • Corn syrup
  • Corn syrup solids
  • Caramel
  • Buttered syrup
  • Carob syrup
  • Brown sugar
  • Date sugar
  • Malt syrup
  • Diatase
  • Diatastic malt
  • Fruit juice
  • Fruit juice concentrate
  • Dehydrated fruit juice
  • Fruit juice crystals
  • Golden syrup
  • Turbinado
  • Raw sugar
  • Sorghum syrup
  • Refiner’s syrup
  • Ethyl maltol
  • Maple syrup
  • Yellow sugar

And remember… the ingredients that are listed at the start of the ingredients are contained in the largest amount within the food you are researching.

Eg: Tomato Sauce Ingredients:  Salt, Sugar, Lactose Syrup, Red Ripe Tomato’s, Onion Pepper, Spice’s, and Natural Flavouring

That means in this receipt of Tomato sauce, the largest portion ingredeient is salt and the least is natural flavouring.

So take the time to read the ingredients list carefully.

For more health tips and advice visit: www.healthguru.sg

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