Carbohydrates & sugars

Look for ‘Sugars’ on the Nutrition Information Panel of your product label. ‘Sugars’ is a total of added sugars and naturally occurring sugars.
The Heart Foundation recommends that Australians limit their intake of foods containing high amounts of added sugars. There are many names for added sugars, so look in the ingredients list for: sucrose, glucose, high fructose corn syrup, maltose, dextrose, raw sugar, cane sugar, malt extract and molasses.
 
Sugars occur naturally in fruit (fructose) and dairy foods (lactose). So while low fat milk may have higher levels of naturally occurring sugar (lactose), you’re also getting the goodness of calcium, protein and other nutrients. Other low fat dairy products and fresh or dried fruit can be higher in naturally occurring sugar and still be nutritious when eaten as part of a balanced diet.
When a product label says ‘No Added Sugar’ the product may contain naturally occurring sugars e.g. lactose (milk sugar) and fructose (fruit sugar), but no additional sugars have been added to the product.

Made up of mostly added sugar or saturated fat, a chocolate bar or soft drink is rightly considered to be a poor food choice because it’s also low in nutrients so all it gives your body is kilojoules with few nutrients.
Foods with the Tick must meet strict levels of kilojoules. As sugar provides kilojoules, this limits the amount of sugar that a Tick product may contain.

In Australia, the latest government recommendations do not specify a daily limit for carbohydrate, sugar or added sugar intake.  However for the prevention of heart disease and other chronic disease, it is suggested that all carbohydrate intake be between 45%-65% of your daily energy intake. 

What are carbohydrates?
Many people think of rice, potatoes and pasta as 'carbs' but that's only a small part of the huge range of foods know as carbohydrates. All fruit and vegetables, all breads and all cereal products are carbohydrates as well as sugars and sugary foods.

Choosing the healthier carbs is commonsense.  Fresh fruit and veggies, wholegrain breads, wholegrain cereals and pasta and rice are all healthy foods and form part of a healthy eating pattern.

Foods with high added sugar such as sweets, soft drinks and cordials as well as pastries, cakes and biscuits are less likely to have nutritional benefit, so are best restricted to only once a week.

Healthy heart tip
Rather than making choices based on sugar content alone see what else a food offers nutritionally.  Look for high fibre and calcium and foods low in saturated fat and sodium.