Sylvia Freak wrote:

Hi everyone,

Sorry to revisit this topic but being new to all this I am still confused re the sugar content allowed on labels re the 'per 100g'.  I bought Be Natural trail bars 'honey nut' the label read under Sugar Quantity per serving = 4.8g & Quantity per 100g = 14.9g.  Then bought Carmans Fruit-Free Muesli Bars and their label read under Sugar Quantity per serve = 5.4g and Quantity per 100g = 11.9g.

I have bought and read Davids book but am looking for a definitive guide e.g. if a product per 100g is under 5g it's ok to buy for example. 

I am on week 5 and am trying really hard as my hubby still wants his biscuits and icecream etc but is willing to eat anything I cook also, so sugar is still in my house! and no I can't force him to join me so I am going it alone on some things.  Anyway any help re reading muesli bar labels etc would be very very welcome.  Oh and no hot cross buns or easter eggs for me.

 

Basically, it's 3% and under for your purchases. not per serving but per 100grams, as these products are way too high........................14.9 is actually 15% which is a huge amount of sugar. Most of the muesli bars are not ok at all.
And that's what David is saying, keep away from anything with more than 3% of sugar.........that is 3 grams in a hundred.
I make biscuits for my husband from David's Quit plan book. And ice cream. You can get dextrose from any brewers shop and it's easy to follow the recipes. Also his lunch box has bread in it made with dextrose, I didn't force him, I simply did home made cakes and biscuits for him and instead of honey on his toast at breakfast, he has butter and Coles Rice Malt syrup and as an alternative, Vegemite.
No struggle..........men love home made stuff. Same with children, if you only have dextrose sweetened stuff in the house, then they will happily eat it and not feel deprived.
And anything that says "honey" on the ingredients list is also a no no.
cheers
Freda

Thank you all for firstly raising the questions and secondly answering the question.  You saved me some time as I thought I had read 2% but needed to check on this as my husband and I are just about to embark on the sugar free journey.

Also Freda is Coles rice malt syrup ok to eat or is your husband eating this as a comprise to vegemite?

 

Also Freda is Coles rice malt syrup ok to eat or is your husband eating this as a comprise to vegemite?

I've only ever found rice malt syrup in Coles.  It's located in the Health Food Isle and it's Pure Harvest brand.

reading labels is very tricky indeed! But it does get easier over time.  I remember when I first started, it took me ages to go shopping because everything I would normally buy I had to check NIPs and ingredient lists so needless to say there was a lot of stopping and checking.

Rice Bran Syrup is very tricky and a few people have searched on the internet and not gotten anywhere.  I did come across this website http://opposingdigits.com/sweeteners/ and it says this about Rice Bran Syrup

"A by-product of refining brown rice into white rice coming from the bran of the rice. Tastes similar to molasses and is very nutrient rich; particularly a good source of iron and B-vitamins"

Whereas Rice malt syrup is a made by culturing rice with enzymes to breakdown the starches and then cooking until it becomes a syrup.

So I would think that it's OK.  That being said, reading labels is quite tricky, but basically this is how I go about it now.  First I check how much sugar is in it.  I generally check for about 4g or less per 100g but I'll then check what type of sweetener is used in the product, if it contains anything on the bad list generally I'd put it back.  However if it's less then 4g and contains sugar I'd probably get it (if I really had a desperate need for it and there was nothing else available).