But a teaspoon of orange juice or applesauce has just four calories, and also contains vitamins, minerals and fiber. The Dietary Guidelines advise to consume sugar only in moderation, but much of the sugar in our diets is hidden, as it is already added to the foods we eat. By reading food labels and becoming more aware of the sugar content of every day foods, it is easier to reduce the total amount of sugar in our diets. Food labels list ingredients in order of amount present in the food, from most to least. If sugar is listed as one or is more of the first three ingredients, the product is considered high in sugar.
Some foods contain several different types of sugar in various forms.
Table 1 lists different types of sugars. Cyclamates were considered safe for use at one time in this country, but were banned in the 1970s. Saccharin actually is a petroleum derivative that is 200 to 700 times sweeter than sucrose. It is sold as a white powder for use as a table-top sweetener, and used in a variety of foods such as beverages, jams and baked goods. It has a bitter aftertaste at high concentrations.