Hidden Sugar - Where is it hiding?

The average American eats approximately 1,500 pounds of food every year.  Of that, 160 pounds are primarily sugar.  Of course, sugar is delicious, but of all the things we consume, it has the least nutritive value.  In fact. except for the energy in its calories, there's no much to recommend about sugar.  It's a prime source of empty calories, and for those who are trying to lose weight, sugar is the first thing to start trimming from the diet.  But here is the problem - despite our best intentions to remove excess sugar from our diets, the food industry has found more and more devious ways of slipping us the sweet stuff.  Whether the food industry calls sugar by another name or adds it to foods we never thought would have needed it, our sweet tooth is on overload.  Fortunately, with stricter labeling laws, we have a fighting chance of cutting back.

Why does the food industry want to fill us so full of sugar?
It is basically the same as any other industry.  For the oil industry to make more money, it needs to use more of its product by driving more miles.  The food industry needs to use more of its products by eating more calories.  The problem is that American food industry is already producing around 3,000 calories per person per day, which is WAY more than we need.  One solution to this surplus is to sell the food cheaply overseas, which the industry does.  The other solution is for Americans to eat more calories.  Sugar and its corn sweetner brethren are great calorie delivery systems, as they pack a huge caloric punch, without causing much satiety or feeling of fullness.  Most people would probably stop eating steak after they reached 1,000 calories, because they would FEEL stuffed.  However, after you drink 1,000 calories of soda, there is still room for dinner.  The other reason the industry pushes sugar so hard is that it is cheap to produce, and the cheaper the calorie, the larger the profit margin.

Sugar in labeling - hiding in plain sight
One of the best ways to disguise the amount of sugar in a product is something the government already requires - printing the information in grams.  Most Americans don't have the foggiest idea of how much a gram is, because we are unaccustom to the metric system.  So when we pick up a can of soda that contains 40 grams of sugar, we probably shrug our shoulders and pop the top.  But what if the label said that it contained 10 teaspoons of sugar?  If you saw someone spooning 10 teaspoons of sugar into their morning coffee, you would think they were crazy.  That truly is how much people consume in a typical 12-ounce can of soda.  A 64-ounce fountain drink you would get at a convenience store or movie theatre contains more than 53 teaspoons of sugar - almost two cups!  Naturally, people would probably think twice if the nutritional information was given in measurements meaningful to them.  But we can take note that 4 grams equals 1 teaspoon of sugar.  So, when you are reading labels, divide the grams of sugar by four, and that is how many teaspoons you are consuming.

Sugar, by any other name, would taste just as sweet
Another strategy the sugar industry uses to get us to consume more calories is the rename the offending ingredient.  We know to stay away from sugar, but how about molasses, honey, sorghum, corn syrup, high fructose corn syrup (HFCS), glucose, fructose, lactose, dextrose, sucrose, galactose, maltose, or concentrated juices like grape or apple?  Another path to profit the food industry has discovered is that instead of harvesting relatively more expensive sugar cane and beets, they can produce sweetners in a laboratory more cheaply and with just as many calories as beet and cane sugar.  With some sweetners, especially with the popular HFCS, it is believed that your body will be less likely to reach satiety than with sugar, so you consume more.  Another advantage to these -oses is that aside from the fact that many people won't guess that they are different forms of sugar, they can spread out the ingredient list required by law, so it won't be obvious that what your are consuming is primarily sugar.  When you look at a list of ingredients, the manufacturer is required to list them in order of amount, from highest to lowest.  So they can bury a quarter cup of fructose, a quarter cup of sucrose, a quarter cup of dextrose and a quarter cup of corn syrup in the middle of the list, so you won't be as likely to notice that when you add them all up, the main ingredient is sugar.

Hide and seek - You are it
So if you are like me, you may have sworn off all non-diet sodas (that is a different topic for a different day, but suffice it to say that a girl has got to have a vice or two), and turned the candy bowl into an unsalted almond bowl.  No more sugar, no more problems.  Except for this problem:  the food industry has cleverly snuck sugar and corn syrup into products where we never would have thought to look.  It is good for manufacturers.  It pumps up the calorie load, can enhance the product's appearance (HFCS gives hamburger buns their golden glow), and can keep our sugar cravings at a low boil, in case we ever decide to go back to the real thing.  Here are some types of products whose lables could bear more scrutiny:

1. Spaghetti sauce - A half cup of store-bought sauce can contain as many as 3 teaspoons of corn syrup or sugar.  While some of the naturally occurring sugar in tomatoes and other vegetables will show up on the nutrition label, most of the sugar is added.  Look for brands that do not include sugar or its aliases or make your own from fresh or canned tomatoes.
2. Ketchup - Ketchup can be 20% sugar or more.  Not to mention that you will get 7% of your daily sodium allowance in 1 tablespoon.  Look for low-salt, no sugar brands, or make your own, using pureed carrots to add flavor and texture to the tomatoes.  This is a big one if your kiddos are dippers like mine are...
3. Reduced-fat cookies - Most brands of cookies now offer a reduced-fat version of their products.  Nabisco even offers its own line of low-fat treats, Snackwells.  But while you are patting yourself on the back for choosing the low-fat option, check the label.  The sneaky food manufacturers did take out the fat, but they replaced it with, you guessed it, sugar.  Many times, the reduced-fat cookie is only slightly less caloric than the one you WANT to eat.  Because they is no fat to make your feel full, you will be tempted to eat more "guilt-free" cookies.  Just because they have less fat, does not mean that you will be less fat.  FAT DOES NOT MAKE YOU FAT, CALORIES MAKE YOU FAT!!!!!
4. Low-fat salad dressing - As with low-fat cookies, manufacturers have taken the fat out of the low-fat salad dressing, but they have added extra salt and sugar to make up for it.  Check the label to make sure you are not replacing heart-healthy olive oil with diabetes-causing sugar - because that is not really a healthy choice.  You best bet is to make your own vinaigrette using a small amount of olive oil, a tasty gourmet vinegar or fresh lemon juice, and some fresh herbs.
5. Bread - Most processed breads contain a good bit of sugar or corn syrup.  As always, check the ingredient label, and consider getting your bread at a real bakery or farmers' market - it is the best idea since, well you know...
6. Fast food - Needless to say, fast food is generally not good for you.  But even if you are staying away from the sodas and the shakes, everything from the burgers to the fries to the salads is a potential place to hide sugar.  Check out the ingredients carefully at your favorite restaurant.  You are probably getting more than your bargained for - and not in a good way.

Adapted from "6 Foods with Hidden Sugars" by Joe Wilkes


WHAT'S FOR DINNER?
It was a lazy Friday afternoon into evening hanging out in the backyard with the kids, so I made a quick and easy dinner that packs a real nutritious punch and keeps your far from those hidden sugars...  Please note that you can substitue almost any vegetales that you have for the ones below.  Just clean out the veggie bin on this one and enjoy!

Pasta Primavera
Servings: 6 to 8

2 Yellow Squash
2 Zucchini
1 8 oz container of button mushrooms
1 Red bell pepper
1 Sweet yellow or purple onion (optional)
Olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
1 25.5 oz bottle Muir Glen Pasta Sauce (any low-sugar marinara sauce)
1 lb Whole wheat pasta (I prefer penne or gemelli with small children because it is less messy than a long pasta like linguine or spaghetti)
Parmesan cheese, freshly grated

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Cut vegetables into bite-sized pieces (the more tender the vegetable, the larger the size so they will all cook in the same amount of time) and place on a sheet pan.  Drizzle lightly with olive oil and salt and pepper.  Roast for about 15 to 25 minutes, or until the vegetables are tender.  Toss vegetables once during roasting to keep from getting too dark on the bottom.  While vegetables are roasting, cook pasta according to directions on package.  While pasta drains, warm sauce in same pot, add in roasted vegetables and drained pasta and toss gently.  Top each serving with a small amount of Parmesan cheese.

CHEERS!