"No added sugar" is one of the most reassuring phrases in the snack food aisle.
It suggests restraint. Honesty. A product that hasn't been sweetened beyond what nature provided. For health-conscious consumers, it has become a primary filter — a shortcut for identifying the better option.
The problem is that it often isn't one.
What "No Added Sugar" Actually Means
The FDA definition of "added sugar" is specific: it refers to sugars added during processing — cane sugar, brown sugar, honey, maple syrup, corn syrup, and their equivalents. A product with "no added sugar" has not had these substances added to it.
What the claim does not exclude:
- Sugar alcohols (erythritol, xylitol, sorbitol, maltitol)
- Artificial sweeteners (sucralose, acesulfame potassium, aspartame)
- Novel sweeteners (allulose, monk fruit extract, stevia extract)
- Highly refined sweeteners derived from food sources (brown rice syrup in some interpretations)
These ingredients can make a product taste significantly sweeter than unsweetened food. They do not count as "added sugar" on a label. A bar sweetened heavily with erythritol and sucralose can accurately claim "no added sugar" while delivering a sweetness level that would require significant cane sugar to replicate.
The Sugar Alcohol Question
Sugar alcohols are partially absorbed by the body, producing fewer calories than sugar and a lower glycemic response in most people. This makes them useful for diabetics and for people managing blood sugar. It is also why they have become the primary tool for achieving "no added sugar" claims in snack bars.
The problems:
Gastrointestinal effects. Sugar alcohols are incompletely absorbed in the small intestine and fermented by bacteria in the large intestine. For many people, this causes bloating, gas, and diarrhea — particularly at the doses found in snack bars, where multiple sugar alcohols are often combined.
Cardiovascular research. A 2023 study published in Nature Medicine found that erythritol — one of the most widely used sugar alcohols — was associated with increased risk of cardiovascular events including heart attack and stroke. The research is observational and has not been replicated in controlled trials, but it prompted significant attention from researchers and practitioners.
Palate calibration. Sugar alcohols can be significantly sweeter than sugar. Regular consumption of intensely sweet food — regardless of the source of sweetness — may maintain or intensify sweetness preferences, making naturally sweet whole food taste less satisfying by comparison.
The Artificial Sweetener Question
Sucralose, aspartame, and acesulfame potassium are common in protein bars and low-calorie snacks. None count as added sugar. All deliver sweetness — in some cases, sweetness significantly more intense than sugar.
The research on artificial sweeteners and health outcomes is mixed and ongoing. What is clearer is that the "no added sugar" claim on a product using these ingredients is technically accurate and practically misleading. A consumer reading that claim and believing they are eating something close to unsweetened food is mistaken.
What "No Added Sugar" Should Actually Mean
When Patterbar says "no added sugar," it means something different.
Our bars contain no added sugar of any kind — not cane sugar, not brown rice syrup, not honey, not agave, not sugar alcohols, not artificial sweeteners, not novel sweeteners. The sweetness in our bars comes entirely from whole food: Medjool dates and dried fruit, with all of their fiber, micronutrients, and phytocompounds intact.
This is a narrower and more demanding standard than the regulatory definition. It is also, we believe, what consumers mean when they reach for something labeled "no added sugar."
The dates taste sweet because they are sweet. The sweetness is inseparable from the fiber that moderates how it hits the bloodstream, the potassium, the antioxidants, the whole food complexity that makes a Medjool date worth eating.
There is no shortcut to that. There is no ingredient that replicates it.
A Practical Guide
Before trusting a "no added sugar" claim, check the ingredient list for:
- Erythritol, xylitol, sorbitol, maltitol, mannitol — sugar alcohols
- Sucralose, acesulfame potassium (Ace-K), aspartame, saccharin — artificial sweeteners
- Allulose, monk fruit extract, stevia extract — novel sweeteners
- Brown rice syrup — technically added sugar, but sometimes used in "no added sugar" products
If any of these appear, the product is sweetened. Whether that sweetening is preferable to cane sugar is a separate question. What it is not is "no sugar."
Patterbar contains no added sugar of any kind — not cane sugar, not sugar alcohols, not artificial sweeteners. The sweetness comes from Medjool dates and whole dried fruit. Ranked #1 by Consumer Reports for Nutrition and Taste (December 2024). Try the Variety Pack →