Earlier this year, Glacéau, a subsidiary of Coca Cola, introduced yet another vitamin water, dubbed Vitamin Water 10, due to its low caloric content of [fill in the blank] calories per serving.

The “center for responsible hydration”, as Glacéau like to call itself on their flash website, informs the consumer that it’s naturally sweetened, has only 10 calories and tastes great.

Sounds like a big deal. So we went ahead and checked what all the fuss was about. Turns out there are 3 different sweeteners added to the water, not one.

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Energy bars are a popular and growing category of snack foods that are a natural evolution of breakfast cereals. Sixty years ago we had time to sit down for a hearty breakfast with the family. By the early seventies, families couldn’t bother with the hassle and settled for a bowl of cereal with milk. Nowadays, many people don’t have time for even this, so they grab a cereal bar / energy bar / snack bar and a spill proof cup of coffee and hop into the car for the morning commute.

With so many bars to choose from, you may find yourself confused. All these bars tout health benefits from here to the 2012 London Olympics. However, there are some companies that try to maintain a higher standard than others, and today we’ll take a look at products from 2 such bars:

Kashi Go Lean Caramel Peanut:

Larabar Peanut Butter Cookie:

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The LA Times Health Section has a piece on a High Fructose Corn Syrup’s cousin – Crystalline Fructose:

Diligent readers of food and beverage labels may have noticed an increasingly common ingredient in some health and energy drinks: crystalline fructose.

To some, the ingredient is a reassuring sign that the product hasn’t been sweetened with high fructose corn syrup, a sweetener that’s been falling out of consumer favor over concerns of a disputed link to obesity and diabetes. Others, however, may have found themselves wondering what, exactly, is crystalline fructose? And is it really any different from high fructose corn syrup?

Read the article…

Photo: Snapple

What you need to know:

Fructose is a sugar found naturally in fruit.

Crystalline fructose is processed – it is derived from corn, just like HFCS, but enriched with fructose. The fructose is crystallized, dried, and milled, then used as a sweetener in the likes of beverages (Snapple) and yogurts.

It is 98% fructose, whereas HFCS is only 55% fructose.

It’s 20 percent sweeter than table sugar, so it can shave 20-30 calories off a 12oz bottled drink.

There are studies for and against the health benefits of crystalline sugar, depending which side of the sugar industry you are on.

What to do at the supermarket:

Check ingredient lists of products before you buy. Don’t think you are getting a more natural or healthy sweetener because Crystallized Fructose appears instead of HFCS. For example, Snapple’s Red Tea Acai Berry Drink boast the following ingredient list:

filtered water, crystalline fructose (sugar from fruit), pear juice concentrate, natural flavors, rooibos (red tea), citric acid, vitamin C.

The “sugar from fruit” is, as you’ve now learned, sugar from corn. Technically corn is a grain. Misleading? (So is the serving size, half a bottle…)

In any case, cutting down on sweetened beverages and switching to water is a great start to any diet.

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