Interpreting food labels can be confusing. By law, manufacturers are now required to list all ingredients on food labels, with ingredients shown by weight in descending order1. Nutrition labelling also includes values for both carbohydrates and sugars2.
How are sugars labelled?
Despite common perceptions, ingredients cannot be ‘hidden’ in our food. They may, however, be listed in different ways. The list below highlights some of the more common terms for sugars:
- Invert sugar syrup mixture of glucose and fructose, obtained from the hydrolysis of sucrose
- Used in: confectionery, baked goods
- Honey made by bees as food for the hive. It contains fructose and glucose and is a popular ingredient due to its unique taste
- Used in: snack bars, cakes
- Molasses/treacle viscous syrup that is a by-product of extracting sucrose. Contains sucrose, glucose and fructose
- Used in: variety of foods including gingerbread
- Agave syrup extracted from the agave plant, this primarily contains fructose and some glucose
- Used in: drinks, confectionery, cakes
- Fruit juice concentrates provide a source of fructose, glucose and sucrose
- Occurs naturally in: a wide range of different fruits, such as grapes, apples, dates or prunes
- Used in: to sweeten drinks, biscuits, cakes
- Isoglucose is a glucose-fructose syrup, comprising approximately 42% glucose and 58% fructose
- High fructose corn syrup (HFCS) or fructose-glucose syrup. Comprises approximately 55% glucose and 45% fructose and is extracted from corn. It receives a lot of media attention and is commonly used in America. However it is not commonly found in UK foods due to EU quotas and currently accounts for only 5% of sweeteners3
- Used in: cakes, cereals, fruit products, drinks
Label claims such as ‘no added sugar’ indicate foods where sugars, i.e. mono-or disaccharides, have not been added. However these foods may still taste sweet due to naturally-occurring sugars. ‘Low sugars’ or ‘sugars-free’ claims can only be made where foods contain no more than 0.5g of sugars per 100g or 100ml4.
Other sugars terminology may include:
- Non-milk extrinsic sugars (NMES)
- Sugars not contained within the cellular structure of a food. It includes sugars in unsweetened fruit juice and honey, as well as sugars that are added to food and drink but excludes sugars in milk and milk products. It also includes 50% of the weight of sugars found in dried, stewed or canned fruit5
- Added sugars
- Sucrose, fructose, glucose, starch hydrolysates (glucose syrup, high-fructose syrup, isoglucose) and other isolated sugar preparations used as such or added during food preparation and manufacturing6
- Free sugars
- Monosaccharides and disaccharides added to foods and beverages by the manufacturer, cook or consumer, and sugars naturally present in honey, syrups, fruit juices and fruit juice concentrates7
- Sugars
- This indicates the ‘total sugars’ content of a foodstuff, including both mono- and disaccharides, whether added by the cook or manufacturer or naturally occurring.