＂Sucrose-free＂ does not mean 100% sugar-free.

　　The consumption of sugary drinks is considered to be one of the biggest behavioral risk factors that can cause death. Recently, a research paper published in the European Journal of Public Health by Zhou Maigeng and others of China CDC showed that the disease burden caused by the intake of sugary drinks in China increased significantly. When people are generally concerned that drinks and foods contain sugar, some merchants mislead consumers with the concept of "no sucrose". The actual situation is that "no sucrose" does not mean "no sugar", which may also cause consumers to relax their vigilance and consume more sugary foods.

　　survey

　　Yogurt and beverage in online celebrity are labeled as "sucrose-free"

　　The merchant refused to explain whether there was sugar.

　　The so-called sugar, because it is composed of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen, is similar to the polymerization of carbon and water in chemical formula, so it is also called carbohydrate.

　　A sugary beverage is defined as a beverage in which sugar (any form of sugar, such as brown sugar, corn sugar, corn syrup, fructose, glucose, etc.) is artificially added in the process of making a beverage, and the sugar content exceeds 5%. Common sugary drinks on the market include carbonated drinks, fruit juice, sports drinks, functional drinks, sweetened coffee or milk tea and so on. According to GB28050-2011 national food safety standard "General Principles of Nutrition Labeling in prepackaged foods", "sugar-free or sugar-free" means that the sugar content in solid or liquid food is not higher than 0.5g per 100g or 100ml.

　　In recent years, when people are generally concerned that drinks and foods contain sugar, some merchants mislead consumers with the concept of "no sucrose". The actual situation is that "no sucrose" does not mean "no sugar", and "no sugar" does not necessarily mean that it does not contain sugar. This move may also cause consumers to relax their vigilance and consume more sugary drinks.

　　Ms. Meng told the Beijing Youth Daily reporter that her children are in the fifth grade of primary school. She pays special attention to the sugar content in the ingredients on the package when shopping for yogurt and drinks on weekdays. Seeing that a online celebrity beverage on a certain platform was marked as "sucrose-free", although the price was two or three times higher than that of ordinary beverages, she ordered several boxes because of online celebrity’s recommendation, high nutritional value and no sugar. The child likes it very much, so she keeps placing orders to buy it. As a result, in just a few weeks, the child was obviously fat. It was not until she found that the "sucrose-free" drink did not contain sucrose, but added fructose syrup, which attracted children to drink, and the sugar content was not "zero" as imagined.

　　The reporter of Beiqing Daily asked the merchants, "Does this sucrose-free product contain other sugars?" Later, the customer service of the merchant replied: "This is uncertain. It is recommended to collect it and buy it again." On the homepage, the reporter of Beiqing Daily found a screenshot of the ingredient list of the product, which clearly stated "Yogurt Fighting Sugar and Fat". The ingredient list showed that the carbohydrate content of the product was 4.5%, although it was lower than the general product, but it was not sugar-free.

　　expert

　　"0 sucrose" and "no sucrose" do not mean "no sugar"

　　Sugar-free is not 100% sugar-free.

　　Sugar-free is not really 100% sugar-free. Take a zongzi product sold online as an example, some consumers understand that this product does not contain sugar when they see this label, and there is no psychological burden when they eat. In fact, the main raw material for making zongzi is glutinous rice, and the sugar content of 100 grams of glutinous rice reaches 15%. Glutinous rice is also rich in starch, which will be converted into sugar after entering the human body, and the glycemic index is also very high.

　　Li Yanju and Zhou Linhua, nutritionists in the Clinical Nutrition Department of Huaxi Hospital, wrote that the so-called "sugar-free" is not as perfect as most people think. For example, sugar-free drinks and sugar-free foods are not 100% sugar-free, and they may gain weight if they drink too much and eat too much. If you see the words "sugar-free, low-sugar, sucrose-free" written on the outer packaging of drinks or foods, according to the standard of GB28050-2011, they mean these things — — Sugar content ≤ 0.5g/100ml, which can be called sugar-free; Sugar content ≤ 5g/100ml, which can be called low sugar.

　　In particular, it should be pointed out that sucrose-free means that sucrose, such as white sugar and brown sugar, is not added. Fan Zhihong, an associate professor in the Department of Nutrition and Food Safety, College of Food Science, China Agricultural University, and a doctor of food science, pointed out on social media: "The trouble with sweet drinks is that people unconsciously drink a lot of sugar (or various syrups). In recent years, the change of sugar use is particularly worrying, because drinks, sweets, cakes and even some so-called healthy foods like to sweeten with fructose or fructose syrup. Why? One is that they are sweeter, and the other is that they can be labeled ‘ Sucrose-free ’ The logo. "

　　In particular, it should be noted that "no sucrose" does not mean "sugar-free", and the behavior of merchants stealing the concept by playing the edge ball should be criticized. Guo Xiaohui, chief physician of the Department of Endocrinology, Peking University First Hospital, believes that comprehensive measures should be taken in sugar control in China, including clearly indicating the types and contents of various sugars on food nutrition labels, such as sucrose, glucose or fructose, and how many grams they contain, rather than just vaguely indicating them in the ingredient list. The sweetener composition and content of sugar-free drinks should also be clearly marked.

　　pay close attention

　　Xylitol and other sugar-free foods

　　You can’t ignore the sugar in the ingredients themselves.

　　In fact, in addition to some "sucrose-free" foods and drinks, there is also a kind of "sugar substitute" foods and drinks that have attracted much attention. There are some "sugar-free" foods on the market for special people such as diabetics, and products using xylitol as sweetener. Relevant medical people pointed out that this kind of "sugar-free food" refers to adding sugar, but it is not really sugar-free.

　　Xylitol is a five-carbon sugar, which can supplement energy and improve sugar metabolism. Metabolism in the body does not depend on insulin and does not increase blood sugar concentration. If xylitol is added to biscuits, cakes and other foods to make "sugar-free food", we still need to be vigilant. Because cakes, biscuits and other foods contain a lot of starch and oil, the glycemic index will be high, so it is not recommended for diabetics to eat them in large quantities. (Text/Reporter Yan Lishuang Coordinator/Yu Meiying)

　　be relevant

　　Excessive consumption of sugary drinks can easily increase the burden of disease.

　　Statistics from the National Bureau of Statistics show that the sales volume of beverages in China increased from 97.91 million tons in 2010 to 171.65 million tons in 2019.

　　Researchers say that excessive intake of sugary drinks is an important health hazard, as harmful as high BMI (body mass index), high blood pressure, red meat intake, drinking and smoking. With the development of economy and society, Chinese’s diet is gradually changing, from the traditional diet to reducing grain intake, high oil, high salt, high sugar and high meat.

　　Based on the research results, the researchers suggest that people in China should pay attention to the problem of excessive intake of sugary drinks. According to the Dietary Guidelines for China Residents (2022), the intake of added sugar should be controlled not to exceed 50g per day, and it is better to control it below 25g.