Sugar-Free vs. No Added Sugar: What Do Food Labels Really Mean?

What should an ice cream labeled as “diet” actually contain, and what is the difference between a product labeled “sugar-free” and one labeled “no added sugar”? Dietitian Dr. Maya Rosman addressed these questions on her program on Israel’s 103FM radio station, in light of a class action lawsuit against the Golda ice cream chain.

“I received quite a few questions about lactose, sugar, and sugar substitutes in ice cream and dairy products,” she said. “I want to emphasize that I have no connection to the Golda chain, and I have no position regarding the legal proceedings. But from a nutritional standpoint, there is some confusion here that is worth clearing up.

“First of all, lactose is the natural sugar found in milk. But it is important to understand that it is not ‘sugar’ in the way most of us imagine when we use that word.

“Lactose is produced naturally in the cow’s body and is present in the milk. It is not added to the product from an outside source. It tastes far less sweet than white sugar, which is why we generally do not think of milk as a sweet food. Chemically and nutritionally, however, lactose is definitely a sugar. It is a carbohydrate classified as a disaccharide, and on a nutrition label it is included both in the total carbohydrate content and under ‘of which sugars.’”

According to Dr. Rosman, this is a point that can easily confuse consumers.

“When we use the word ‘sugar’ in everyday conversation, we generally think of white sugar, syrup, or sugar that has been added to a food. Lactose is very different from that image in terms of both its taste and the way we consume it. Nevertheless, according to the definition used for nutritional labeling, it is considered a sugar.

“What does that mean in practice? Plain yogurt can contain no added sugar whatsoever, yet its nutrition label may still list several grams of sugar per 100 grams. Those are simply sugars that occur naturally in milk, such as lactose.”

“Sugar-Free” vs. “No Added Sugar”

Rosman went on to explain the important distinction between the labels “sugar-free” and “no added sugar.”

“This is one of the most important points. The term ‘sugar-free’ refers to the amount of sugar actually present in the product. In Israel, this designation does not require the product to contain absolutely zero sugar. Rather, it may contain no more than 0.5 grams of sugar per 100 grams or 100 milliliters of food.

“By contrast, ‘no added sugar’ means that sugars were not added to the product for the purpose of sweetening it. The product may still contain sugars that occur naturally in its ingredients.

“For example, jam with no added sugar still contains the natural sugars found in fruit. Similarly, a dairy product with no added sugar can certainly contain lactose that comes naturally from the milk.”

For People With Diabetes, Total Carbohydrates Matter

Rosman emphasized that people with diabetes should pay attention to the total amount of carbohydrates in a serving, rather than looking only at the “of which sugars” line on the nutrition label.

“I want to illustrate this with an example from another type of food. Bread is a good example. A package of bread may carry a label such as ‘no added sugar,’ but that bread may still contain a significant amount of carbohydrates from white flour or starch, both of which are undesirable for people with diabetes or prediabetes.”