Although reduced sugar and no-sugar-added may get lumped together as one category, they have different definitions. Reduced sugar means there are less added sugars. Yet, it doesn’t mean it’s healthier, experts explain.

“‘No added sugar’ means that the product could be loaded with sugar, such as apple juice, but it is sugar from the apples, not sugar that was added,” notes Thom King, CEO of Icon Foods, Portland, Ore.

No sugar-added products must not contain sugar, including granulated sugar (sucrose), lactose, fructose, honey, etc. The clear distinction is the acknowledgment of naturally occurring sugar(s) in the food or beverage.

Kandice Longmire, business development manager — Sugar Reduction for Batory Foods, provides the following example of a no-sugar-added apple pie.

“The apples contain naturally occurring fructose. However, the filling’s sweetness may be further enhanced with stevia, but there is no addition of nutritive sweeteners such as sucrose,” she says. “Therefore, this product qualifies as a no-sugar-added.”

Artificial sweeteners can still trigger a metabolic response because the body does not know how to metabolize these chemicals, so the receptors trigger the brain to act as though it were sugar, King adds. “You can get the benefit of calorie abatement but not a metabolic benefit. Artificial sweeteners can also disrupt the microbiome, which is responsible for 80% of our immune system and serotonin production,” he says.

In the United States, brands must meet a number of requirements, laid out by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, before they can make package claims related to sugar content. For example, to make a reduced-sugar claim, finished products must contain at least 25% less sugar than a similar full-sugar reference product. As the name implies, no-added-sugar claims may only be used if no amount of sugar is added during processing and packaging, states Carla Saunders, senior marketing manager for High Intensity Sweeteners at Minneapolis-based Cargill.

“Our proprietary research suggests Americans are more likely to check the amount of sugar versus look for a specific sweetener or claim. However, we did find evidence that sweetener claims can influence purchases. Those that fared best in our 2022 consumer study typically implied ‘natural’ or ‘no artificial sweeteners,’ including ‘naturally sweetened’ or ‘made with a natural sweetener.’ (This was true when we look across all food and beverage categories tracked, as well as when we looked at specific categories like flavored milks and plant-based dairy),” Saunders mentions.

While the importance of sugar content and the popularity of label-friendly terminology showed widespread appeal, Cargill research also uncovered some interesting findings around sugar- and calorie-related claims.

• Among sugar/calorie claims, “lower in sugar” had the greatest purchase impact, across demographic groups and food and beverage categories. However, in certain categories, including frozen desserts and plant-based dairy, “no added sugar” did have a slightly higher purchase impact score than “low sugar.”
• Claims around sweeteners, sugar and calories had highest impact in categories consumers associate more closely with nutrition, such as plant-based dairy and flavored milks.
• Conversely, these claims carried less importance in indulgent categories like frozen desserts. DF