Organic chemistry lecture taught me a lil’ somethin tonight
Did you know when it comes to sugars the government only "defines" sugar as it exists in it’s most stable form ie: gluecose? Well this means that any other form of sugar is fair game for slapping on a sugar free label.
Sorbitol (sugar-free gum sugar), for example, is just the reduced form of sugar, and when you put it in your body, you oxidize it right back to gluecose easily because that is it’s most stable form and your body uses that for energy just the same! So therefore, it has the same effects as sugar and essentially is sugar.
Also what’s interesting is "artificial sugars" actually occur naturally in nature, depending on the environment. So when a label says no artificial sugars added, it could be telling the truth! They are not synthesized. Well…..this is a stretch but something to think about. The only one I know if that IS synthesized is sucralose or splenda.
Well I’m still not giving up my gum, it gets me through the day. My ethnic Japanese aunt always said just stick with the natural stuff anyways like maple sugar and In The Raw sugar. At least they are not processed.
April 17, 2008 at 8:53 pm
Yes, not only do they LOVE to play around with the wording for sugars, BUT, the FDA will not allow HONEY to be called an all natural sweetener. Go figure.