Golden Farm Sugar-Free Forum

Sorting Out Mixed Signals

Understanding the differences: Lite, Free, Low, Lower and Reduced

Since last May 8th, whether you have realized it or not, consumers have been bombarded with new meanings for the way manufacturers describe the "healthiness" of their products. Which is better, or which are the same? Is 'Lite' healthier than 'Reduced' or 'Low' better than 'Lower'? Also, when they say 'Lite' or 'Low', are they talking about fat or calories or both?

We will help to end the confusion for you by explaining how all of this started. The words 'Lite', 'Lower', and 'Reduced' all imply that a product has changed or improved from something it was before or from another similar product that was not Lite or Lower. Sounds like a definition, right? Well it is. Now you might ask, "if it implies that it's different, then what do 'Lite' and 'Lower' really mean?" Simply stated, 'Lite' could refer to any nutrient, like fat, salt, and, of course, calories. The manufacturer of the food must identify what it is they are talking about when they use the claim 'Lite' on packaging. For example, for calories and fat to qualify for 'Lite',

'Lower' and 'Reduced' mean the same thing. Any nutrient that a manufacturer claims is 'Lower' must have at least 25% of the same nutrient than the food to which it is compared. The manufacturer must again show the percentage changes and the old and new content, as in the requirement for 'Lite'.

'Low' is not the same as 'Lower'. 'Low' is in a category of its own. The FDA has developed special requirements for 'Low' simply by altering the serving size. This, the FDA felt, would not be a true reflection of the definition they wanted for 'Low'. By requiring manufacturers to make their claims based on more food (50g, if the reference is 30g or less), they would have to reformulate their product to remove some of the more undesirable nutrients, such as fat.

When "Sugar Free" is really "No Sugar Added"

Read the following ingredient statement and see if you can find the ingredients that will add sugar to your diet: Hydrogenated Starch Hydrolysate, Cream, Whey, Polydextrose, Dextrose, Grape Juice Concentrate, Unsalted Butter, Partially Hydrogenated Soybean Oil, Coffee, Calcium Caseinate, Natural and Artificial Flavors and Colors.

If you've been aware, you will have identified Dextrose, Grape Juice

How Much Fat is Enough?

You are probably among many people who have analyzed the new 'Percent Daily Value' column of the Nutrition Facts panel. If you're like many of us, you may be confusing the '% Daily Value' with the actual percent of the specific nutrient contained in the serving size. For an example, many people would think that the 'Total Fat' (4%) would mean that the serving had 4% fat.

This is not the case; it is actually 6.25%. Here is the reason why. Notice that the total amount of fat is 2.5g for a 40g serving. Now if you divide 2.5g by 40g, you'll find that 6.25% is the true amount of fat in this serving.

By comparison, take the 2.5 grams of fat and divide it by 65 grams, the recommended daily intake for fat, and you'll see how they arrived at 4% (2.5/65=3.85%). By FDA standards this is rounded to 4%. The logic is this: 65 grams of fat is 585 calories from fat (65 grams multiplied by 9, the number of calories in a gram of fat). In the recommended 2,000 calorie diet, 585 fat calories is about 30%. This might ring a bell.

Well, this whole system was developed to support that logic. Now, what is the relationship to the 5% from above? Well, what they are saying is that you can eat the serving size of this product 20 times before you reach 100%.

Some people feel that this might be too time consuming, and as a result, many people are recommending that you simply choose the lowest number when you're looking at the amount of fat that's in a product. One might agree, which would be wise, because 5% is really 7.5%. So if you want to keep track of all the 5 percents that you eat until you reach 100%, then this is one system for you.

Another system that you could use is the system used by most people before the 'Daily Value' program came into being. Determine what percentage of calories come from fat. For example, in Figure 1, divide the Calories from Fat 25 by the Calories of 120, and you'll find that it's 21 percent fat. Then, simply don't eat anything that has a number greater than 30%. You could eat everything in this category all day and you'll always be under 30%. The only thing that would make this untrue is if you exceed the recommended 2,000 calorie per day diet.

Changing the Shape of FAT

Why the 'FAT FREE' of today is different from the 'FAT FREE' of yesterday

The FDA is a source of a great deal of refining and standardizing currently taking place in the food industry. This is the first year of the FDA's big new program known as the NLEA (Nutrition Labeling and Education Act). One purpose of the Act is to standardize the labeling practices of the food industry. For example, when a product is labeled 'FAT FREE', manufacturers are now required to indicate the amount of fat 'freeness'. Because Fat Free is defined as containing a 1/2 gram or less of fat (for 15 or 40 grams of food), only by meeting this standard can you make the 'Fat Free' claim. Some might ask exactly how the FDA arrives at this quantity of food to be used as a measurement. Well, there is a scientific basis for it. The FDA created 136 food categories for manufacturers to choose from, based on consumer surveys of how much of a certain food an average person would consume in a single eating occasion. These standard portions are called the food's reference amount, which never changes. It's always the given standard amount. Only the serving size can fluctuate. For example, we manufacture a delicious bag line that is Sugar-Free. The bags' reference amounts are either 15 or 40 grams. However, sometimes the serving sizes differ from the reference amounts.

Further, the FDA has said that what a person consumes in one occasion makes up a part of their total diet. In addition, manufacturers must also tell consumers how much of all nutrients they are getting (fat, sugar, sodium, etc.) in 15 or 40 grams of candy. This is truly an improvement from the past, when there was no standard. Manufacturers could make up their own definition of a serving. For example, before NLEA, a 3 ounce package of hard candy could have been broken down to whatever the manufacturer said the serving was, perhaps 1 piece of candy (5 grams). When 1 piece of candy is measured for fat, it is barely significant and could realistically be called 'Fat Free'. It's true that if you were to eat only 1 piece of candy it would be fat free, even by today's standards. But, on average, most people would not eat just 1 piece; they'd eat 3 pieces, or 15 grams, the reference amount. So, a 1-piece serving would not be a true reflection of how people eat and thus would not really be 'Fat Free', or any claim that eliminates an undesirable nutrient, you can be assured that it cannot be found in the product.

Sugar Alcohols Aren't Sugar or Alcohol

We're all familiar with the ingredient known as corn syrup. Many of us have even seen it or used something similar in our kitchens. Well, a sugar alcohol can look very much like a corn syrup. Hydrogenated starch hydrolysate, the sugar alcohol used in our products, is actually derived from high grade maltose corn syrup. Through a process known as hydrogenation (the introduction of hydrogen to the syrup), the 'sugars' that make up maltose syrup are transformed from 'sugars' into 'itols'

or polyols (short for polyhydric alcohols). So now maltose, the sugar, is maltitol, the sugar alcohol. This polyol has a different chemical make-up than sugar and thus carries its new chemical name. In addition, polyols have other favorable attributes. Since maltose is now a sugar alcohol transformed to maltitol, it will metabolize in the body more slowly than sucrose (table sugar), and some maltitol will pass through the body without being metabolized at all. Thus maltitol syrup will not cause the significant rise in blood sugar experienced when eating the same amount of sucrose.