What does “No added sugar” mean?
No added sugar: what the label doesn't say
A cookie, a drink, a cake. On the packaging, it says, in big letters: “No added sugar.” Somewhere in your brain, a little voice says, Good choice. Except that this claim probably doesn't mean what you think it means.
Let's break it down.
Sugar or sugars? That little “s” that changes everything
First things first: “sugar” and “sugars” are two different words.
Sugar (without an “s”) is the kind you put in your coffee. It’s white sucrose, derived from sugar beets or sugarcane. Sugars (with an “s”) is an entire family: glucose, fructose, lactose, sucrose… All simple carbohydrates with a sweet taste. And the distinction doesn’t stop there. Sugar-free and no added sugar are two very different claims:
Sugar-free means the product contains no simple sugars, neither added nor naturally occurring with a maximum allowance of 0.5 g/100 g ¹.
No added sugar means that no sugar was added during production. But the product may very well contain naturally occurring sugars. A fruit yogurt can contain 10 g of sugars per 100 g while proudly bearing this label. The European Commission also specifies that in this case, the label must state “Contains natural sugars”¹. A statement you often look for in vain.
These statements are called nutritional claims: assertions governed by European regulations that suggest a food has beneficial nutritional properties². In theory, the rules are strict. In practice, that’s where things get complicated.
Zero sugar, but still sweet?
No added sugar does not mean no sweet taste.
Many manufacturers replace sugar with sweeteners: aspartame, stevia, sucralose, maltitol… These substances provide the same sweet flavor without technically being sugars. The product tastes the same, the claim seems valid, everyone is happy.
Except that European regulations are clear on this point: the claim “no added sugar” can only be used if the product contains no ingredients with sweetening properties ¹. A sweetener plus “no added sugar” on the packaging violates the regulations.
In 2023, UFC-Que Choisir identified some thirty products from major brands misleadingly displaying this claim, including cookies, cakes, and chocolate bars that do indeed contain sweeteners³.
The problem goes beyond the legal issue. Behind the phrase “no added sugar” lies an implicit promise: that of a product whose sweet flavor has not been artificially enhanced. The idea, in principle, is to help consumers break their addiction to sweet tastes. When a sweetener replaces sugar, the addiction remains intact. Only the label changes.
How to Read a Label, for Real
Three useful tips when looking at a product labeled “no added sugar”:
Check the nutrition facts panel. The “of which sugars” line shows the actual total amount of sugars in the product, whether added or not. That’s the only number that matters.
Read the entire ingredient list. Sweeteners must be listed there. If you see stevia, sucralose, maltitol, aspartame, or any other name you wouldn’t put in your kitchen, you know where you stand.
Be wary of fruit juice concentrates. “Apple juice concentrate” used to sweeten a product is technically an ingredient, not added sugar. This is a gray area that some manufacturers exploit.
So what is sugar used for in kombucha?
In kombucha, sugar plays a dual role. First, it serves as food for the yeast and bacteria: without sugar, there is no fermentation. But it’s also an ingredient that influences the final taste, starting with the type of sugar chosen at the outset.
And the choice of sugar matters. You can ferment kombucha with all kinds of so-called fermentable sugars: classic sucrose, honey (which produces Jun, a cousin of kombucha with floral notes), maple or agave syrups, and many others. Each sugar influences the flavor profile of the final drink.
At Smile, we use unrefined, organic cane sugar for its aromatic complexity. A highly refined sugar would result in a more neutral fermentation. Ours adds slightly caramelized notes that contribute to the drink’s character.
What Fermentation Does to Sugar
We start each batch with about 3.5 g of sugar per 100 ml. Over the course of 14 days, the yeast and bacteria in the SCOBY consume it, converting it into organic acids, CO₂, and flavors. By the end of fermentation, between 1.7 and 2.5 g of sugar per 100 ml remains. And that’s after adding real fruit in the form of juice or puree for flavoring.
For comparison: a standard soda contains about 10 g of sugar per 100 ml. Freshly squeezed orange juice, about 8 g. Smile kombucha, between 1.7 and 2.5 g. The sugar is there; it’s real; it’s listed. But most of it has been consumed by fermentation.
No sweeteners. No misleading claims. Just patience and microorganisms doing their job.
Disclaimer:
Smile brews kombucha, not regulatory conclusions. This article summarizes information from European texts and verifiable publications. The links are provided if you want to dig deeper. And if you have any doubts about a label, the DGCCRF and the AFSCA are here to help.
Sources:
¹Parlement européen et Conseil de l'Union européenne. (2006). Règlement (CE) n° 1924/2006 concernant les allégations nutritionnelles et de santé portant sur les denrées alimentaires (Annexe). EUR-Lex. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/FR/TXT/?uri=celex:32006R1924
²Autorité européenne de sécurité des aliments. (s. d.). Allégations de santé. EFSA. https://www.efsa.europa.eu/fr/topics/topic/health-claims
³Abdoun, E. (2023, 10 avril). « Sans sucres ajoutés » — Gerblé et Karéléa mentent sur leurs emballages. UFC-Que Choisir. https://www.quechoisir.org/actualite-edulcorants-gerble-et-karelea-fraudent-n107014/
