Jelly, Jam, Preserves

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ljaroch
ljaroch Posts: 64
in Food and Nutrition
This might be a totally stupid question but as far as jellys, jams and preserves go, are there any good brands that don't have added sugar? I see a lot of all natural but they include natural cane sugar as the first ingredient. I also see sugar free but they add artificial sugars. I know what you are thinking "why not just mash up some fruit?" well because I'm looking for easy, something I can take with me and don't have to fuss over. Just curious if anyone has found anything like that.

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  • IveLanded
    IveLanded Posts: 797 Member
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    Yes, there is a brand called Polaners All Fruit.........it's just fruit.

    Smuckers also has a line of "just fruit" jams. I think they are sweetened with fruit juice, but when you read the labels they still have a lot less sugar than normal.

    I usually get one of those.
  • ljaroch
    ljaroch Posts: 64
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    Awesome, thanks for your suggestions! I'll be on the lookout for both of those.
  • wolfchild59
    wolfchild59 Posts: 2,608 Member
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    And your best bet is to head towards preserves and away from jelly or jam. Jelly is made with only the fruit juice and then a thickener like pectin or gelatin. Jam is juice and some fruit bits, again with a thickener. Both of these tend to be more likely to have added sugar, artificial sweeteners, or other ingredients.

    But preserves are the whole, mashed fruit and can more easily be found without a lot of added stuff. Pectin is still fairly common to thicken it to a more commonly accepted consistency (basically surrounding the whole fruit with additional jelly), but there are plenty of brands out there that don't add any unnecessary sugars, sweeteners or other stuff.

    So look at the front of the label first to find preserves, then check the back for the details and you'll probably be able to zero in on the more natural stuff faster. :)
  • sarah3333
    sarah3333 Posts: 222 Member
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    There is one brand called Fifty 50. And it's really low sugar, it actually says Low GI on the bottle! :)
  • wolfchild59
    wolfchild59 Posts: 2,608 Member
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    There is one brand called Fifty 50. And it's really low sugar, it actually says Low GI on the bottle! :)

    But it also has two different kinds of artificial sweeteners and a bunch of other non-natural ingredients. Which isn't what the OP was looking for.
  • cheerforsteelers
    cheerforsteelers Posts: 686 Member
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    I like Crofter's - croftersorganic.com
  • marycmeadows
    marycmeadows Posts: 1,691 Member
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    I like polaner sugar free w/fiber. It's quite tasty and delish. I like to put it in plain oatmeal.
  • andivaclavicek
    andivaclavicek Posts: 150
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    If I'm gonna have preserves, I want the sugar. Bonne Maman Strawberry Preserves for the win. I just don't have it very much anymore.
  • dvnjustina
    dvnjustina Posts: 114 Member
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    Sugar is in jellies, jams and preserves for two reasons: it helps to deter spoilage and it affects how well the pectin works. I don't know if there is a fruit mixture on the market that has a zero calorie natural sweetener without unnecessary added ingredients. Jellies, jams and preserves should be simple: fruit, pectin (which is made from apples), sugar, lemon juice and possibly flavorings (as in spices, citrus peels, vanilla or other liquid flavorings).

    To be honest, most all natural preserves should have similar sugar content as jellies and jams since sugar and pectin is still needed in order to make preserves. Freezer jams without added pectin still need sugar in order to set. Also a good bit of the sugar content comes from the fruit itself.

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