Acquiring healthy eating habits after bariatric surgery, especially after gastric sleeve surgery, is one of the most important factors in long-term success. In the first one-year period, which we define as the rehabilitation period after stomach reduction surgery, it is extremely important to learn about healthy nutrition and conscious food consumption and to integrate it into our lives. There are labels on the foods we buy from the market, especially on the back of ready-made food products. When purchasing a food, the consumer accesses the content information of the products thanks to this label. The food industry is obliged to present this information in detail to the consumer in all kinds of packaged foods. According to the researches, the origin of the products that consumers buy in recent years,

What is written on food labels? According to which standards are the labels prepared?

Products are labeled in accordance with Codex Standards, which are widely used around the world. According to this standard, the name of the food, the list of ingredients, its net content and drained weight, the name and address of the manufacturer, packer, distributor, importer, exporter or seller of the food, batch identification, date marking, storage instructions and instructions for use are reported. Foods and ingredients known to cause hypersensitivity or allergies should always be declared. Shelf life, sweeteners, if there is caffeine in the product, the amount of caffeine, energy and nutrients must be added. (Gert W. Meijer, 2021)

How should we distinguish added sugar when reading food labels?

In recent years, as the production of industrially processed products has increased, the consumption of products with added sugar and refined carbohydrates has increased in parallel. Today, the increase in consumption of simple sugar; It also brings many health problems such as obesity, fatty liver, type 2 diabetes, metabolic syndrome. The recommendation of the World Health Organization is that sugar consumption should be less than 10% of the daily energy need. It is even recommended that this rate be reduced to 5%.

Monosaccharides and disaccharides naturally found in vegetables, fruits, honey and milk form sugar (Rosires Deliza, 2021). Fruit contains fructose, milk contains galactose and lactose.

Phrases on packaged products; fructose, glucose, dextrose, maltose and sucrose means sugar. Although monosaccharides and disaccharides are added to packaged foods as added sugar, they are naturally found in fruit juices and honey.

    According to the World Health Organization, daily sugar consumption should be between 5-10 teaspoons maximum in order to lead a healthy life (5). We know that sugar is used to sweeten packaged foods. In addition, this sugar is used as a food additive to extend the shelf life of foods. Its use in products such as jam and marmalade ensures the preservation of the desired gel form, while preventing microbial growth. No added sugar in foods does not include sugar naturally found in food.

References

1-Gert W. Meijer, VS (2021). Towards effective labeling of foods. An international perspective on safety. Trends in Food Science & Technology , 45-56.

2-R. An, YS (2021). Effect of front-of-package nutrition labeling on food purchases: a. Public Health , 59-67.

3-Rosires Deliza, MF (2021). Rethinking sugar reduction in processed foods. Current Opinion in Food Science , 58-66.

4-Tailane Scapin, VM (2021). The adaptation, validation, and application of a methodology for estimating the added sugar content of packaged food products when total. Food Research International , 144.

5-https://www.ages.at/en/topics/nutrition/who-sugar-recommendations/

6-https://ohioline.osu.edu/factsheet/hyg-5359