What does "Sugar-Free" really mean?

Sugar Free Stamp Stock

The economic principle I am exploring is, what does the "Sugar-Free" label really mean?

My research question to help me study the economic principle is "what replaces sugar in "Sugar-Free" products"?

The article "Sugar Free" Does Not Equal Healthy published in 100 Days of Real Food demonstrates this economic principle by showing us "Sugar-Free" labels do not actually mean there is no sugar. It means real sugar was replaced, we are consuming chemicals and chemical names are hidden with brand names.

First, when a company says a product is "Sugar-Free", it actually means real sugar was replaced with chemicals. When you take real sugar out artificial sweeteners are put in place of it. Artificial sweeteners were invented in a food lab by scientists and some haven't even been around for more than 10 years. Hearing this personally makes "sugar" not as bad. I think I would rather consume real sugar that has been around for many many years in small portions than an artificial sweetener made in a lab where no one knows the long term affects of. 

Second, replacing sugar with an artificial sweetener actually means you're replacing sugar with chemicals. The Sugar Association says these artificial sweeteners are "chemically manufactured molecules that do not exist in nature". When I hear that artificial sweeteners are chemicals it kind of grosses me out and makes me want to just use natural real sugar instead. 

Third, companies hide the chemical names of sugars with brand names to make it sound less scary.  For example, NaturaSweet Equal is actually called Aspartame, Splenda is actually called Sucralose, Necta Sweet is called Saccharin and Sweet One is actually called Acesulfame K.  I think when companies do this its smart on their part. The actual name of the sugar sounds scary and definitely like a chemical so using a brand name makes it more appealing to the consumer. 

In my next blog post I will research the question what are government regulations for labels on food products?