Understanding natural sugar

ritzvin

Here's an example of some of the pricing differences (via Instacart)(store brand + 1 mainstream name brand)...
(8x more $$ per volume for the storebrand real maple syrup for the non-bulk sizing)



ETA.. here's the entire listing for the "Maple syrups" search (all brands that are there)..

ritzvin

suzij27 wrote: »

@lemurcat2 Not sure if this “syrup” difference is a U.S. thing, but it is real! Cracker Barrel, a family restaurant on many interstates in the U.S., always had 100% maple syrup. About 5 years ago they started serving “100% Pure Natural Syrup”. In smaller writing on the bottle it says 55% Pure Maple Syrup, 45% Cane Syrup”. My husband stopped ordering pancakes there when they made that change!

I have one of the little bottles on my fridge, so the verbiage cane right off the label. Not sure why I haven’t tossed it. 🤪 Many restaurants went away from real maple syrup to reduce costs.

Here's what a quick search turned up on that...
(March 2009)

A review of one of their TN locations offered up the below, so maybe they did switch back..

lemurcat2

ritzvin wrote: »

Colloquially, around here, we tend to say "maple syrup" as the blanket term for all syrups going on pancakes/waffles, with the understanding that more-often-than- not, it's going to be the cheap fake stuff rather than actual maple syrup due to the very, very large price difference. (And I live in one of the regions that produces it.. the odds of being served real maple syrup dwindle considerably elsewhere).

I just searched for syrup (no maple) at WF (through Amazon Prime grocery delivery), and what came up, in order, were 2 maples (in different sizes), some fake syrup, and then more maple, and then the low cal stuff. Then some strawberry and chocolate syrups. Out of curiosity I compared the costs -- the maple in 32 oz was 59 cents/serving, while the fake syrup in 20 oz was 35 cents/serving. (The smaller maple was 66 cents/serving.)

I expect the popular fake syrups at WF are more than in some other stores, however.

ritzvin

The best in-store prices listed on web site (without the instacart markups in my previous image) for 1 of our 2 main supermarket chains were 44 cents/oz (32 oz maple syrup), 39 cents/oz (64 oz maple syrup), [ETA: 56 cents/oz for the 12.5 oz bottle - nothing between the 12.5 and 32 oz], and 8 cents/oz (24 oz non-maple syrup)(proudly "Made with 2% real maple syrup. 2% maple syrup.")

LinkedEmpire

I understand your worry. Using a food diary for the first time opens a can of worms you can't put back in the shelf. I cut back on sugar too, natural and artificial. I understood that too much of a good thing led to some issues. This platform helped me learn moderation, opened me up to food staples that made certain things still worth having but in a much healthier form. Some of my health issues resolved in a matter of 2 weeks by cutting back and sticking to a prescribed limit. When someone says MFP doesn't calculate this or that, it all starts with the labels being scanned. My family and I are predisposed to diabetes, HC and HBP, so weight gain runs in this circle too. I figured that it is what we eat that spurs certain things in motion, which leads us to eat more of it over time. I could argue that those who gain weight from a calorie surplus don't develop conditions such as ours but predisposed and weight gain is based off what is eaten, then how much. By cutting back and learning moderation, I find that my daily intake, with all meals and snacks considered, is not well below or beyond thr platform. In any case, your discretion counts, when in doubt, talk to your doctor. We could debate articles but your health is a serious discussion.

kshama2001

sonex825 wrote: »

Not so much concerned about my eating habits as I am trying to figure out the app and how it fits into the big picture. Seems it would make sense to be able to track added sugar on a line of its own if it was so different. Might be something I ask about when I visit the doctor next time. I really look forward to seeing if the eating well has had a decent impact on my lab work.

Added sugar just became mandatory on US food labels this year (with lots of exceptions) so I don't anticipate MFP will have this as an option anytime soon.

However, if your carbs and calorie targets are on point, your sugar will be as well.

I swapped out sugar for fiber as that is more useful for me to track.

AnnPT77

kshama2001 wrote: »

sonex825 wrote: »

Not so much concerned about my eating habits as I am trying to figure out the app and how it fits into the big picture. Seems it would make sense to be able to track added sugar on a line of its own if it was so different. Might be something I ask about when I visit the doctor next time. I really look forward to seeing if the eating well has had a decent impact on my lab work.

Added sugar just became mandatory on US food labels this year (with lots of exceptions) so I don't anticipate MFP will have this as an option anytime soon.

However, if your carbs and calorie targets are on point, your sugar will be as well.

I swapped out sugar for fiber as that is more useful for me to track.

FWIW, MFP (in the phone app) lets you enter sugar and added sugar separately (also sugar alcohols) now, it appears. Don't know whether/where it shows up if entered, and the web MFP doesn't seem to have a space for it on "create food".

Obviously, the existing entries in the database (that don't have it) won't change unless some user changes them, and the world doesn't necessarily follow US food labeling standards or have equivalents, so . . . yeah, I won't be *effective* on MFP anytime soon.