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"No added sugar" sounds like permission to relax. But that phrase describes how sugar got into the product, not how much is inside. Fruit concentrates, honey, and natural sugars can still fill a label to the brim while staying technically true. Tonight, we open six everyday labels and read past the promise, into the actual number.
A glass of orange juice can carry around six teaspoons of sugar, all naturally occurring, so it's allowed to say "no added sugar." Squeezing away the fibre concentrates that sugar though, so your body meets it fast, much like a can of cola. Swap: eat the orange whole and get the fibre back with the sugar.
Many smoothies list mango or grape juice concentrate high up the ingredients. Legally that's fruit, not "added sugar," so the label stays clean. But concentrate is fruit with the water removed, sugar included, and a single bottle can hold five or six teaspoons. Check the ingredients list, not just the front label, for words ending in concentrate.
A small handful of raisins or dried mango, maybe 30 grams, still holds around three teaspoons of sugar. Drying fruit removes water, not sugar, so it becomes more concentrated gram for gram than the fresh version. It's genuinely no added sugar, but it's easy to eat far more than you would as fresh fruit.
A "no added sugar" fruit yogurt often gets its sweetness from fruit puree or juice concentrate stirred through, keeping it legally free of added sugar while still carrying around two to three teaspoons per pot. Plain yogurt with real fruit chopped in gives you a similar taste with far less sugar hiding in the mix.
Granola marketed as no added refined sugar often gets its sweetness from honey, dates, or fruit concentrate instead, all of which count as sugars once you check the nutrition panel. A typical bowl can still carry three to four teaspoons. Look at the "of which sugars" line, not the front of the packet, for the true picture.
A cereal bar boasting no added sugar can still land around two teaspoons from dates or apple concentrate, similar to a couple of biscuits. The phrase describes how the sugar got there, not how much sits inside. The one number worth trusting is "of which sugars" on the back, divided by four for teaspoons.
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