The Difference Between Natural and Added Sugars
What’s the difference between natural sugars and added sugars??Naturally occurring sugars are found in dairy products and fruits. Natural sugars tend to be well tolerated. For example, light strawberry yogurt has naturally occurring sugars from the milk and strawberries with which it is made. Both sugars are natural; therefore light strawberry yogurt would be an appropriate food choice.
Added sugars are found in many foods and not just in the form of sucrose a.k.a. table sugar. Added sugar is often disguised with many different names. These added sugars may include cane sugar and evaporated cane juice, brown sugar, beet sugar or any other ingredient ending in sugar, as well as syrups (or syrup solids) such as maple, corn or cane.
The Nutrition Facts panel tells you the number of grams of sugars in a serving, but because it lumps together all sugars, it does not differentiate between natural and added sugars. Therefore you need to read the ingredients list. If added sugar is one of the first three ingredients, it is recommended that the food item not be consumed.
Below is a list of various added sugars:
| Brown sugar | Honey |
| Cane syrup | Invert sugar |
| Corn sweetener | Malt |
| Corn syrup | Maltose |
| Corn syrup solids | Malt syrup |
| Dextrose | Maple syrup |
| Fruit juice concentrate | Molasses |
| Galactose | Raw sugar |
| Glucose | Rice syrup |
| High-fructose corn syrup | Sucrose |