Has a diet with less sugar been your new year’s resolution on repeat? We applaud the intention and completely understand why it all crumbled away when you were innocently offered a warm choc chip cookie. But look over here… Yes, believe what you see. These are delicious products with less than 0.5g sugar per 100g (the current SA regulation for being sugar free).

If you want a more gentle easing into consuming less sugar by simply avoiding products with added sugar, browse our other lifestyles and aisles using our “No added sugar” filter. The products within the Banting & Low Carb lifestyle are also generally low in sugar. 

The term table sugar refers to sucrose, which is made up by two simple sugars: glucose and fructose. Sucrose is naturally occurring, found in fruits and vegetables, and is refined to give us the sugar we see on our tables. The term “added sugar” refers to any type of sugar which is added to products during processing, like corn syrup or honey or concentrates, to make the product sweeter than it would have been without it. 

Sources of sugar in products can be listed under multiple names and include, but are not limited to, corn syrup, high fructose corn syrup (HFCS), sucrose, sugar, brown sugar, raw sugar, cane sugar, beet sugar, fruit juice concentrate, dextrose, treacle, syrup, agave syrup, honey, fructose, glucose, invert sugar, lactose, maltose, isomaltose, maltodextrin, demerara and molasses.

Sugar causes an increase in blood sugar levels, usually as a short-lived spike. A high sugar intake has been linked to obesity, diabetes, dental issues, changes in mood, poor concentration and developmental issues among others. Limiting your sugar intake, including added sugars, may help to prevent or manage the negative consequences of a consistently high sugar intake.

1. Products that state “no added sugar” are not necessarily sugar free. It simply means that no sugar has been added in addition to that which is naturally part of the product’s ingredients.  
2. Many foods that are low in sugar or have “sugar free” on the packaging are made with sweeteners such as sucralose or erythritol (a sugar alcohol). Where these are an ingredient of a product we list, we will always mention the type of sweetener(s) used in the product description.