Product making false claims?

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coolbluecris
coolbluecris Posts: 228 Member
edited November 2018 in Food and Nutrition
This product claims to have half the calories of sugar. It has the same sweetness as sugar in a coffee (it is not double the sweetness).

1 teaspoon (5grams) of sugar is 16 calories.

1 teaspoon (5grams) of this product is 20 calories!

Please help me clarify? Thanks :)

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Replies

  • pinggolfer96
    pinggolfer96 Posts: 2,248 Member
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    Cause it has sugar in it....
  • kam26001
    kam26001 Posts: 2,799 Member
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    Wouldn't one teaspoon of that product have 16 calories and 4g of sugar? That's what it says on the bag. I'm confused lol.
  • melissalatzel25
    melissalatzel25 Posts: 148 Member
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    so it has same calories per teaspoon as regular sugar (maybe 1 calore less lol)
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,608 Member
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    Lol, there are a TON of products out there making false claims of their effectiveness.

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  • smolmaus
    smolmaus Posts: 442 Member
    edited November 2018
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    A teaspoon as comparison (volume measurement) only makes sense if the products have the same density and they don't. I have both a product similar to that and a tub of stevia-based sweetener with no sugar and the stevia has similar calories per gram but an actual teaspoon of it does not weigh 5g. The sweetener particles are lighter and fluffier and a 500ml canister weighs almost nothing so depending what % of sweetener it is, the density will change.

    That difference on top of the fact that the serving size is halved, I don't see that their claims are false. Just that whether or not a half-serving is "as sweet" as sugar is subjective.
  • scarlett_k
    scarlett_k Posts: 812 Member
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    It's because it's supposed to be twice as sweet as sugar, so you use half as much. Stevia tastes horrible to me anyways!
  • Lounmoun
    Lounmoun Posts: 8,426 Member
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    According to their website it looks like their claim of half the calories per serving is based on using half as much as you would of plain sugar not an equal amount. Their claim is that 1/2 tsp (2 g) of their sugar/stevia mix product tastes as sweet as 1 tsp of just sugar so you can use less. They do not seem to be claiming that their product in the same amount is lower calorie than regular sugar.
    "The addition of stevia to our sugar allows you to cut the serving size in half and still get the same sweetness as regular sugar. As a result, a full serving of Baking Blend (1/2 teaspoon) has the same sweetness as a full serving of regular sugar (1 teaspoon) but with half the calories. Same sweet, half the calories." from http://wholeearthsweetener.com/faqs/


    If you are comparing 1/2 tsp plain sugar to 1 tsp plain sugar the calories would also be less but less sweet.

    I have not tried the product so I don't know if 1/2 tsp of it tastes just as sweet as 1 tsp of sugar to me. I think that would be somewhat subjective. I don't think it is making a false claim because a lot of people might agree that it tastes as sweet.
  • CarvedTones
    CarvedTones Posts: 2,340 Member
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    Lounmoun wrote: »
    According to their website it looks like their claim of half the calories per serving is based on using half as much as you would of plain sugar not an equal amount. Their claim is that 1/2 tsp (2 g) of their sugar/stevia mix product tastes as sweet as 1 tsp of just sugar so you can use less. They do not seem to be claiming that their product in the same amount is lower calorie than regular sugar.
    "The addition of stevia to our sugar allows you to cut the serving size in half and still get the same sweetness as regular sugar. As a result, a full serving of Baking Blend (1/2 teaspoon) has the same sweetness as a full serving of regular sugar (1 teaspoon) but with half the calories. Same sweet, half the calories." from http://wholeearthsweetener.com/faqs/


    If you are comparing 1/2 tsp plain sugar to 1 tsp plain sugar the calories would also be less but less sweet.

    I have not tried the product so I don't know if 1/2 tsp of it tastes just as sweet as 1 tsp of sugar to me. I think that would be somewhat subjective. I don't think it is making a false claim because a lot of people might agree that it tastes as sweet.

    I agree. I thought about making a comment like yours, but was hesitant because I don't like Stevia very much so I wouldn't like the product but I understand their logic - if you like Stevia enough to use it as an ingredient in your own recipes you would probably be happy using half as much of this product in place of sugar. I sometimes tolerate Stevia in Oikos triple zero; i sometimes grab a single at the grocery store to keep myself from buying something else I craved when I spotted it.
  • coolbluecris
    coolbluecris Posts: 228 Member
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    kam26001 wrote: »
    Wouldn't one teaspoon of that product have 16 calories and 4g of sugar? That's what it says on the bag. I'm confused lol.

    A teaspoon is 5 grams.
  • CarvedTones
    CarvedTones Posts: 2,340 Member
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    coolbluecris wrote: »
    kam26001 wrote: »
    Wouldn't one teaspoon of that product have 16 calories and 4g of sugar? That's what it says on the bag. I'm confused lol.

    A teaspoon is 5 grams.

    Right; the stevia is the other gram and since it is more concentrated, together they are supposedly sweet as 2 teaspoons.
  • coolbluecris
    coolbluecris Posts: 228 Member
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    CarvedTones wrote: »
    coolbluecris wrote: »
    kam26001 wrote: »
    Wouldn't one teaspoon of that product have 16 calories and 4g of sugar? That's what it says on the bag. I'm confused lol.

    A teaspoon is 5 grams.

    Right; the stevia is the other gram and since it is more concentrated, together they are supposedly sweet as 2 teaspoons.

    I don't believe so.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 27,981 Member
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    Did you buy it locally and keep your receipt? If it were me, and I didn't find it twice as sweet as sugar as it claimed, I'd return it. I'm sure it was WAY more expensive than sugar.
  • coolbluecris
    coolbluecris Posts: 228 Member
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    kshama2001 wrote: »
    Did you buy it locally and keep your receipt? If it were me, and I didn't find it twice as sweet as sugar as it claimed, I'd return it. I'm sure it was WAY more expensive than sugar.

    Good point 👍

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