corn_syrup.jpgby Leah McGrath, RD, LDN, Corporate Dietitian – Ingles Supermarkets

 

The USDA’s definition of sugar: “…any grade or type of saccharine product…processed, directly or indirectly, from sugarcane or sugar beets and consisting of, or containing, sucrose or invert sugar, including all raw sugar, refined crystalline sugar, liquid sugar, edible molasses, sugar syrup, and cane syrup.”

Recently the media has been buzzing with stories about the newest evil lurking in our cupboards and pantries and on supermarket shelves, also known as sugar. It is undeniable that sugar has calories and excess calories can lead to obesity which has been linked to Type 2 Diabetes and certain types of cancer.

But let’s not lose sight of the fact that sugars provide us with one of
our key nutrients – carbohydrates, the preferred source of fuel for our
brains and muscles.

So if you pick up an item and see the amount of total sugar (grams)
listed on the Nutrition Facts panel, should you put it back? Not so
fast! The Nutrition Facts panel doesn’t distinguish between naturally
occurring sugars and added sugars.

Some foods and beverages include naturally occurring sugars: fruits,
fruit juices, and some root vegetables contain fructose; beans contain
raffinose; and milk and yogurts contain lactose and galactose.

These naturally occurring sugars are lumped into total sugar in grams
on the Nutrition Facts panel, along with added sugars like sucrose, corn
syrup, and high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) in many items from yogurt to
ice cream and from beverages to baked beans.

The best way to tell if your food product has added sugars is to read the ingredient list and look for:

• Brown sugar

• Corn sweetener

• Corn syrup

• Fruit concentrate

• 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

References: www.fsa.usda.gov/Internet/FSA_File/sugar_glossary.pdf; American Heart Association, www.heart.org via www.heart.org.

  


leah_office_web.jpg

Leah McGrath, RD, LDN
Corporate Dietitian – Ingles Supermarkets
Phone: 800-334-4936
e-mail:
[email protected]

Ingles: www.ingles-markets.com/ask_leah
Twitter: www.twitter.com/InglesDietitian
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