What does 'no sugar added' mean?

[Richard M Nixon]

It sounds obtuse, but what am I getting with a dessert that says 'no sugar added'? Does it strictly mean that it's sweetened solely by the natural sugars of the ingredients, or is it artifically sweetened by sugar substitutes like Splenda? I'd rather avoid the latter.

 

[minnie mum]

I'm pretty sure that if it is artificially sweetened they have to say so.

 

[bumbershoot]

I can answer for one specific thing. The no sugar added berry sorbet at CRT was described by the chef as literally just berries. Nothing else at all. And it tasted like that, too! Very good.

 

[ttintagel]

It could mean either. You'd have to ask about each dish on a case-by-case basis.

Although there are many reasons why one might not want or be able to eat a traditional dessert with sugar, I'll share my perspective on my reasons for not selecting most "no sugar added" desserts as a person with Type I Diabetes - the artificially sweetened ones and ones sweetened by concentrating fruit often have as many or more grams of carbohydrate as their traditional counterparts. Although there are many factors involved, the amount of CHO is what, generally speaking, raises blood sugar in Type 1 rather than the presence of sucrose/glucose in the dish.

 

[Richard M Nixon]

Sounds like I'll be asking at each restaurant. It'll be a sugar-filled day so cutting back when possible will be helpful for health reasons, but I'd rather not be trading one toxin for a worse one.

Thanks for the input, all.

 

[nkereina]

Generally speaking, it means it's naturally sweetened by natural sugar in the ingredients. Since some of the ingredients may contain natural sugars, such as fruit, they can't call it sugar free. But no additional sugar is added.

In Disney terms, they could essentially skew the menu wording how they want. But knowing how good they are with food restrictions, I would suspect this is what they mean. What kind of desserts are you seeing this on? If it's a fruity one, it would definitely make sense.

 

[Dizzytime]

Generally speaking, it means it's naturally sweetened by natural sugar in the ingredients. Since some of the ingredients may contain natural sugars, such as fruit, they can't call it sugar free. But no additional sugar is added.

In Disney terms, they could essentially skew the menu wording how they want. But knowing how good they are with food restrictions, I would suspect this is what they mean. What kind of desserts are you seeing this on? If it's a fruity one, it would definitely make sense.

Although you can never be too careful, that's EXACTLY my experience too.
from a long time type one daibetic, the no added, just natural is what I look for in a treat.. like when I buy jelly/ jam for instance

 

[B-Ride]

It means it has plenty of sugar from the natural ingredients making it unnecessary to add extra sugar. Just remember natural sugar is still sugar. Yes, berries are better for you but don't think you aren't eating any sugar.

 

[Jadyreen1282]

Can't no sugar added mean just cane sugar? It could mean Molasses instead of Sugar or Corn Syrup instead of sugar...

 

[ellone]

You need to ask. Sometimes the 'no sugar added' means it's sweetened with sugar alcohol. Which may cause some gastrointestinal distress (as in gassy, but some people react worse and can get diarrhea).