Since when does Sugar Free mean Fake Sweetners?

SueBee

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Location
Midwest
I’m so frustrated. I just decided to “try” eliminating most sugar from my diet, as suggested by recent stories I’ve read or seen in the news. I bought an Italian salad dressing the other day and chose it because in the biggest print on the label it says “Sugar Free Italian”.

Zero calories, gluten free, no high fructose corn syrup, always sugar free. Silly me didn’t read the tiny ingredients on the label, printed in light lime green, impossible to read. I just opened the bottle and tasted it… sweet. Blah, super sweet, fake sweet, gross! I got out my magnifying glass and there it is, Sucralose. I don’t use fake sweetners, can’t stand the taste of them. So, this salad dressing is going in the trash. Very annoying!
 
They put sugar in regular Italian dressing to offset the vinegar. In order to make the sugar free version taste similar is the reason for using alternative sweetners. If you prefer no sweetness to your dressing, it's easy to make at home using just olive oil, vinegar, and Italian seasoning. [Use about 3 parts of oil to one part of vinegar.]
 
They put sugar in regular Italian dressing to offset the vinegar. In order to make the sugar free version taste similar is the reason for using alternative sweetners. If you prefer no sweetness to your dressing, it's easy to make at home using just olive oil, vinegar, and Italian seasoning. [Use about 3 parts of oil to one part of vinegar.]
I agree. Making your own salad dressing is super easy.

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Yes sugar free always means loads of sweeteners. Less fat is always compensated by either sugar or sweeteners. You can better just use oil and vinegar on salad, like the Greeks do. All these pots and packages are always full of nonsense you don't need.
 
I would actually assume that most things labelled sugar free or zero sugar have artificial sweeteners instead. this is not surprising.

Something labelled 'unsweetened' eg yogurt, would contain neither - or at least only the natural sugar inherent in the product, no added sugar.
 
I just decided to “try” eliminating most sugar from my diet, as suggested by recent stories I’ve read or seen in the news.
That is really challenging to do, I decided years ago to only have half as much sugar as the WHO recommended limit for women, and quickly found that a lot of food products have added sugar. I'm still not sure whether 'sugar alcohol' counts, and whether products that have 'date powder' are essentially adding sugar. If they were to powder a sugar beet, at what point would the beet change from a beet to sugar?
 
I think "sugar-free" has always meant - artificial sweeteners. Diet sodas are infamous for containing aspartame - which is bad for you (not sure what isn't bad for you these days) but..... even the newer versions - Coke Zero contains aspartame and another artificial sweetner.

2 natural non-artificial sweeteners I know of are Stevia and Allulose. They're both from plants.

I've heard of Stevia ... never heard of Allulose. My husband uses Stevia because he's diabetic. I wonder why they don't use that instead of all the artificial stuff --- likely more expensive.... in our processed foods.

Yes sugar free always means loads of sweeteners. Less fat is always compensated by either sugar or sweeteners. You can better just use oil and vinegar on salad, like the Greeks do. All these pots and packages are always full of nonsense you don't need.

Amen to that!
 
I think "sugar-free" has always meant - artificial sweeteners. Diet sodas are infamous for containing aspartame - which is bad for you (not sure what isn't bad for you these days) but..... even the newer versions - Coke Zero contains aspartame and another artificial sweetner.



I've heard of Stevia ... never heard of Allulose. My husband uses Stevia because he's diabetic. I wonder why they don't use that instead of all the artificial stuff --- likely more expensive.... in our processed foods.




Amen to that!
This is a great post.
 
I think "sugar-free" has always meant - artificial sweeteners. Diet sodas are infamous for containing aspartame - which is bad for you (not sure what isn't bad for you these days) but..... even the newer versions - Coke Zero contains aspartame and another artificial sweetner.



I've heard of Stevia ... never heard of Allulose. My husband uses Stevia because he's diabetic. I wonder why they don't use that instead of all the artificial stuff --- likely more expensive.... in our processed foods.




Amen to that!
Unfortunately, 'natural' sweeteners aren't totally safe, either.. can cause all kinds of side-effects.
 
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