A reader sent me the following picture: He was puzzled: Isn't sugar just the carbohydrate on the label? Sugar in cola on the left only accounts for 9% of the reference intake, and iced black tea on the right only accounts for 3%. Is the manufacturer's false labeling misleading consumers?
First of all, the 26.5g in the cola label on the left refers to the amount in "one serving" (250ml), while the total sugar content in this bottle is 53g, while the 9.7g on the right refers to the content in 100ml, and the total sugar content in a bottle (500ml) is 48.5g Secondly, this label is in line with national standards, but in the. Although this helps consumers to ignore the harm of sugar, it does not violate the national standard, so manufacturers naturally actively abide by the national standard.
Sugar, saccharides and carbohydrates are confusing concepts for many people.
Sugar: In daily life, people call the sweet substance extracted or made from sugarcane, beet, corn, wheat and other grains "sugar". Chemically, aldehydes and ketones containing multiple hydroxyl groups in their molecules are named "sugars". In the discussion of food and nutrition, "sugar" generally refers to "monosaccharide" or "disaccharide" (the specific meaning will be further explained later). The substances covered by these three concepts overlap, but they are not exactly the same.
Carbohydrate: Carbohydrate refers to a nutrient consisting of three elements: carbon, hydrogen and oxygen. Generally speaking, the ratio of hydrogen to oxygen in them is 2: 1, which is the same as that in water. Historically, people used to think that they were compounds of carbon and water. Later, scientists found that the state of hydrogen and oxygen in these substances had nothing to do with water, and the term "carbohydrate" was unreasonable. In addition, some substances that conform to this composition law are not such nutrients, while some such nutrients do not conform to this composition law.
Sugar: Because the meaning expressed by the name "carbohydrate" does not conform to scientific facts, scientists try to replace it with a more reasonable name. Chemically, these nutrients are formed by the condensation of monosaccharides and monosaccharides, so they are called "sugars". In China's textbooks, "carbohydrate" is replaced by "sugar". However, the word "carbohydrate" is still used in the food and nutrition industry (including the official documents of regulatory agencies). And "sugar" is often confused with "sugar".
The so-called is just established, and the reference is fundamental. Whether it's called "sugar" or "carbohydrate", the most important thing for us is:
Different carbohydrates have much worse effects on health!
The nouns related to carbohydrates are as follows:
Sugar: It is indicated by "sugar" on the English label. They include a single "polyhydroxyaldehyde and ketone" molecule (namely "monosaccharide") and a "disaccharide" formed by the condensation of two monosaccharide molecules. Glucose, fructose and galactose are the most common monosaccharides, while sucrose, lactose and maltose are the most common disaccharides. Honey, brown sugar, rock sugar, maltose, high fructose corn syrup, rice syrup, etc. It is the commodity state of monosaccharide and disaccharide from different sources. In the digestive tract, disaccharide molecules can be rapidly hydrolyzed into monosaccharides. They can be quickly absorbed into the blood. Different monosaccharides have different effects on health. For example, glucose will increase the blood sugar content, which is the enemy of diabetic patients, and fructose will increase the risk of "metabolic syndrome". Therefore, from the point of view of health, it is advocated to limit the amount of added sugar in food. WHO recommends that the daily intake of added sugar should not exceed 10% of total calories (preferably as low as 5%). For most people, 10% energy supply is equivalent to about 50 grams of sugar. The contents of cola and iced black tea in front of the bottle are 53g and 48.5g respectively.
Starch: Starch is a macromolecular substance condensed from glucose. In the digestive tract, it is broken down into glucose and then absorbed. Because digestion takes time, the effect of starch on blood sugar is not as great as that of monosaccharide and disaccharide. Starch is the main form of "carbohydrate" in food and an important source of daily calories consumed by human body.
Dextrin: Syrup is a small molecular mixture that hydrolyzes starch into monosaccharides and disaccharides. Dextrin is also a product of hydrolyzed starch, but it is not enough. The product molecules are relatively large, which is equivalent to "starch fragments". In food, some are called "maltodextrin" and some are called "starch dextrin". They are eventually decomposed into glucose in the digestive tract, which is slower than sugar and faster than starch, and their influence on blood sugar is also between the two.
Dietary fiber: Dietary fiber is a macromolecule formed by condensation of monosaccharide molecules (not just glucose), and its fundamental feature is that it will not be decomposed by human digestive system. According to its solubility in water, it can be divided into soluble dietary fiber and insoluble dietary fiber. Insoluble dietary fiber has good water absorption and satiety, but it does not provide calories, which is helpful to lose weight and solve constipation. Soluble dietary fiber has many benefits to health, for example, food may become probiotics in the large intestine, producing some substances beneficial to the human body. For modern people with a fine diet, most people's dietary fiber intake can't reach the recommended intake.
Oligosaccharide: Oligosaccharide is equivalent to small molecular soluble dietary fiber, sometimes called "polysaccharide". Many oligosaccharides can be selectively utilized by probiotics in vivo, which is beneficial to the health of intestinal bacteria in vivo. Such oligosaccharides are called prebiotics.
In food labels, all the above substances are labeled as "carbohydrates". According to the recommendation of dietary guidelines, the total daily intake of carbohydrates for adults is 300 grams. This is the basis that half a bottle is regarded as one serving in the previous cola labels, so that the sugar in it only accounts for 9% of the recommended daily amount of carbohydrates. Iced tea, on the basis of 100 ml, reached the nutritional reference value of 3%. In fact, the recommended amount of "300g" carbohydrate should be mainly composed of starch and dietary fiber. When carbohydrates are mainly sugar, it is extremely unreasonable to calculate based on this 300 grams.
Because this labeling method meets the requirements of the national standard, manufacturers cannot be expected to adopt a "reasonable" way. We can only accept such information before the revision of the national standard for nutrition labeling. For consumers, they can only cultivate a pair of discerning eyes by themselves, not only by looking at the total amount of "carbohydrates" in the nutrition label, but also by looking at what kind of carbohydrates are in the ingredient list-if they are all kinds of sugars listed above, they should try to reduce their consumption.