Better for You, Reduced Sugar Snacking
With the pace of your day, it is frequently easier to grab a packaged snack to eat on the go. As you make a decision at the grocery store, you believe you are selecting the option to reduce sugar, choosing a fruit snack that contains fruit juice instead of a gummy candy. But are you really making a better-for-you choice?
Many fruit snacks on the market are merely fruit flavored gummies with a little bit of vitamin supplementation. They contain no fruit juice or puree. Supplement gummies are generally the better-for-you option with these types of products, as they provide more nutrients. Outside of the nutritional supplement, the ingredients are exactly what you would find in gummy candy.
There are other fruit snacks, like Annie’s, that are distinguishing themselves by adding fruit juice or puree and a low level vitamin supplement. The marketing makes the consumer feel that these are better-for you. The consumer assumes that these have to be better than picking a comparable gummy.
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Added Sugars vs Naturally Present Sugars
Your desire to reduce sugar is a good one. The instinct to find something with natural sugar instead of added sugar is worthwhile as well. It’s been fairly studied in diabetics that the consumption of whole fruit over candy, has less impact on blood sugar. (1, 2) This benefits non-diabetics as well, because of how added sugar feeds inflammation in the body (3). Reducing added sugar helps with weight management, stabilizes blood sugar, supports heart health, improves oral health, improves mood, reduces acne, and improves liver health.
Foods high in added sugar are often lacking fiber, protein and other compounds in food that help to slow absorption of sugar. Fast absorption of added sugar leads to the “sugar high” and the resulting “sugar crash.” Whole foods with natural sugar like fruit, have enough compounds to buffer this rollercoaster of energy levels. (4)
How can you tell if a food has naturally occurring or added sugar?
Look at the Nutrition Facts Panel. Total Sugar is all the different types of sugar in a serving. Added Sugar is called out as a separate line. Naturally Present Sugar is the difference between Total Sugar and Added Sugar. In Annie's Fruit Snack label below you can see that: 10g Total Sugar - 10g Added Sugar = 0g Naturally Present Sugar.
RELATED: What are Ultra Processed Foods? Why Should I Eat Less of Them?
Getting Back to Fruit Snacks
Annie's Fruit Snack:
Both of the fruit snack & the gummy candy are ultra processed food (UPF). They are made of highly refined ingredients. Like described in the above section on added sugars, naturally derived ingredients are isolated and stripped of supporting nutrients, that may have helped the body and microbiome digest / assimilate the ingredient. Within natural flavors and colors there can be individual chemicals that humans were not exposed to 150 years ago. Many of these ingredients are in higher quantities than you or our ancestors would naturally consume. For example, these snacks both are made with different types of sugar syrups. In a single meal someone would not eat that much corn, tapioca or rice to get the equivalent amount of sugar in a serving of these.
When you look at the labels for both Annie’s Fruit Snack and Black Forest Gummy Bear – neither has natural sugar. It is all added sugar. This means that the fruit juice added is insignificant! This is all marketing fluff to make the consumer feel better!
Annie’s actually has MORE sugar per gram than the gummy candy! Yes, Annie’s has a bit of vitamin C but it is not significant. You may want to consider a different option that gets you back to ancestral food – like generations of humans ate before us.
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Alternatives
A better for you option is whole fruit – fresh or dried. While you have to package it at home into individual servings to get the same convenience, it has greater nutrient density. Dried cherries and cranberries are probably a close substitute – sweet and a bit tart – and easy to eat on the go. Several brands have little to no added sugars. Cherries and cranberries both have plenty of beneficial antioxidants. These will better satisfy your hunger and keep your energy on a more even keel – no sugar rollercoaster!
If you are feeling adventurous, you can make high protein, no sugar added fruit snacks at home using fruit juice, pureed fruit and gelatin. I haven’t tried this recipe, but a friend said she and her kids had a lot of fun making this with mixed frozen berries and bananas!
Ultimately what you eat is your decision, will you choose ancestral food like so many generations before us?
If you can’t go with whole fruit or a homemade gummy, consider choosing minimally processed snacks with fruit as first ingredient. Look for shorter ingredient lists, mainly with kitchen ingredients that you recognize. As much as possible, select brands that reduce added sugars, seed oils and artificial sweeteners, colors, and flavors. Select Non-GMO if you have a values concern with the use of biotechnology in food. Or if you can, select organic where you can also minimize exposure to agricultural chemicals.
Vote with your fork (and your wallet)!
Interested in escaping the snack pack and picking better for you options, here's a free guide!
