Take a Look at the Difference between Carbohydrates and Sugars on the Label

National Food Safety Standard Prepackaged Food Nutrition Labeling General Rules" (GB 28050-2011, hereinafter referred to as GB 28050) requires prepackaged food nutrient table carbohydrates as the core nutrients need to be mandatory labeling, while "sugar" as a nutrient, companies can choose to label in the nutrient table as needed, labeling in the form of carbohydrates immediately below the label "- sugar" or "- lactose" and its content, then carbohydrates and sugar in the end what is the connection or difference between it, food partners network to take you a deeper understanding.

　　First, Definition of carbohydrates and sugars

　　

According to the national recommended standard "Basic Terms of Food Nutrition Composition" (GB/Z 21922-2008), carbohydrates and sugars are defined as follows.

　　Carbohydrate: the total system of sugar, oligosaccharides (oligosaccharides), polysaccharides, is an important nutrient to provide energy.

　　Sugar: refers to all monosaccharides and disaccharides, such as glucose, sucrose, etc.

　　According to the definition of carbohydrates can be seen that carbohydrates contain sugar, from the pre-packaged food label nutrition facts table to see the amount of carbohydrates is greater than or equal to the content of sugar.

　　

Second, the table of nutrients carbohydrates or sugar labeling value

　

Carbohydrates: According to - GB 28050 - Q & A (revised) the amount of carbohydrates in food can be obtained by subtractive or additive calculation. Subtractive method is to the total mass of food 100, minus the mass of protein, fat, water, ash and dietary fiber, known as "available carbohydrates"; or the total mass of food 100, minus the mass of protein, fat, water, ash, known as "total carbohydrates ".

The difference between "available carbohydrates" and "total carbohydrates" lies in whether they contain dietary fiber, which is a polymer of carbohydrates naturally present in plants, extracted or synthesized, with a degree of polymerization DP≥3, and cannot be digested and absorbed by the human small intestine.

It includes cellulose, hemicellulose, pectin, inulin and other monomeric components of dietary fiber. The value of dietary fiber can be separately labeled or not separately labeled. On the label, "available carbohydrates" and "total carbohydrates" are indicated by "carbohydrates". Addition is the sum of starch and sugar as "carbohydrate".

　

　Sugar: It is the sum of monosaccharides and disaccharides in the food. If companies want to reflect the sugar content in the nutrition factsheet, they can calculate it according to the amount of monosaccharides and disaccharides added to the food.

Monosaccharides are usually sourced from ingredients such as edible glucose and fructose, while the prevalent disaccharides in nature are sucrose, lactose and maltose. Sucrose is usually sourced from food ingredients such as rock sugar and white sugar, and maltose is usually sourced from food ingredients such as maltose syrup.

　　

So there are foods in which the carbohydrates are entirely derived from monosaccharides or disaccharides, then the content of carbohydrates is equal to the content of sugar, and if there are oligosaccharides or polysaccharides in addition to monosaccharides and disaccharides in the food, then the value of carbohydrates in the nutrient composition table will be greater than the value of sugar.

　　Third, about the claim

1. "Sugar-free" - Synonyms for "sugar-free" are "no sugar", "0 sugar" "no sugar", "0% sugar", "no added sugar" and so on, claiming that no sugar needs to meet the requirements of carbohydrate content to meet ≤ 0.5g/100g (solid) or According to the Frequently Asked Questions on National Food Safety Standards, "When carbohydrates are labeled as "0" in the nutrition factsheet of a product, it meets the requirements for a "sugar-free" claim.

According to the "Food Safety National Standards FAQ", "When the carbohydrate content of a product is marked as "0", it meets the conditions for "sugar-free" claims, and enterprises can make corresponding claims. If the carbohydrate content is not 0 and the sugar content is 0, you can also make a claim of no sugar, then it is necessary to separately label the sugar content."

Currently, many products on the market are advertised as "sugar-free" or "0 sugar", and many use sugar alcohols or sweeteners instead of "sugar", so the carbohydrates listed in the nutrition factsheet are not 0, and the sugar is indeed 0, the label in this case is also compliant.

2. "Low sugar" - claiming "low sugar" is synonymous with "less sugar", claiming that low sugar needs to meet the carbohydrate ≤ 5g/100g (solid) or 100mL (liquid) ), or sugar ≤ 5g/100g (solid) or 100mL (liquid).

3. "Reduce sugar" - Synonyms for "reduce sugar" include "reduce sugar", "less sugar" "reduced sugar" "reduced sugar", "reduced sugar", the logo should also be reduced sugar claims to "compared with reference food, sugar content reduced by more than 25%", reference food usually refers to the consumer Reference food is usually familiar to consumers, easy to understand the same type or the same genus of food.

Summary

　　The value of carbohydrates is calculated, companies in the nutrition table can only label the content of carbohydrates, or both carbohydrates and sugar content, should ensure that the labeling data is true, not false labeling.