Glossary

This glossary explains the key terms around sugar-free eating in plain language: types of sugar, sweeteners, label claims, authorities and laws, blood sugar, and collagen and protein. Legal information refers to the EU and is current as of October 2026. For a detailed comparison of sweeteners with sweetness, calories and approval status, see Sugar Substitutes Compared.

A

Acesulfame K: An artificial sweetener (E 950) about 200 times sweeter than sugar. The body cannot use it, so it provides no calories and leaves the body unchanged.
ADI (acceptable daily intake): The amount of a substance per kilogram of body weight that a person can consume every day for a lifetime without an expected health risk. It is set by expert bodies such as EFSA.
Agave syrup: A syrup made from the sap of the agave plant. It consists mostly of fructose and is therefore sugar, even though it is often marketed as a healthy alternative.
Allulose: A rare sugar found in small amounts in foods such as figs, about 70% as sweet as table sugar. The body barely uses it, so it has very few calories. As of October 2026, allulose is not approved as a food in the EU.
Aspartame: An artificial sweetener (E 951) about 200 times sweeter than sugar. It breaks down when heated, so it is not suitable for baking. Because it contains the amino acid phenylalanine, the label must say "contains a source of phenylalanine" – a warning for people with the rare metabolic disorder phenylketonuria.

B

BfR (German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment): Germany's federal agency, based in Berlin, that assesses whether food, chemicals and everyday products pose health risks and informs the public about them.
Bioactive collagen peptides: Specific, very short fragments of collagen. They are said to act as signals in the body, for example for skin or joints – doing more than just supplying protein. How well this is supported depends on the specific product and its studies.
Blood sugar spike: A quick, short rise in blood sugar after eating, especially after meals rich in sugar or starch. The level then falls again. In healthy people this is a normal process.
Bulk sweeteners and intense sweeteners: Two groups of sugar substitutes. Bulk sweeteners such as erythritol or xylitol are about as sweet as sugar and used in similar amounts. Intense sweeteners such as stevia or sucralose are hundreds of times sweeter and used only in tiny amounts. Both provide fewer or no calories.

C

Carbohydrates: One of the three main nutrients, alongside fat and protein. They include sugar and starch, for example from bread, pasta, fruit or sweets. EU labels show "carbohydrate" and below it "of which sugars". Fiber is listed separately in the EU.
Coconut sugar: Sugar made from the thickened sap of coconut palm flowers. It consists mostly of sucrose (table sugar), so it is not a sugar substitute but sugar.
Collagen peptides: Collagen is a protein that keeps skin, bones and tendons, among other things, strong. For collagen peptides it is taken from animal tissue and broken into small pieces so that it dissolves easily in water. They are sold as powders or in snacks.
Collagen types I / II / III: Collagen comes in different forms. Type I is found mainly in skin, bones and tendons, type II in joint cartilage and type III in skin and blood vessels. Supplements usually name these three types.
Cravings: A sudden, strong desire for a particular food, often something sweet. It is not necessarily linked to real hunger. See also sugar addiction.
Cyclamate: An artificial sweetener (E 952) about 30 to 50 times sweeter than sugar, often combined with saccharin. It is approved in the EU but banned in the United States.

D

Date syrup: A thickened juice made from dates, consisting mainly of glucose and fructose. Legally it counts as a sweetening ingredient, so a product containing date syrup cannot be labeled "no added sugars".
Dietary fiber: Parts of plant foods that the small intestine cannot digest. They pass into the large intestine, where gut bacteria break some of them down. Fiber does not count as sugar and provides little energy (2 kcal per gram).

E

E number: The code of a food additive approved in the EU, for example E 951 for aspartame. The "E" stands for Europe. The ingredients list may show the E number instead of the name.
EFSA (European Food Safety Authority): The EU agency, based in Parma, Italy, that scientifically assesses whether foods and additives are safe. Whether something is approved is decided by the European Commission and the member states.
Energy value (calories): The energy a food provides to the body – in everyday language, "the calories". EU labels show it in kilojoules (kJ) and kilocalories (kcal) per 100 g or 100 ml.
Erythritol: A sugar alcohol (E 968) about 60 to 80% as sweet as sugar. It has practically no calories and does not raise blood sugar. The body absorbs it and excretes it unchanged in the urine.

F

Free sugars: A World Health Organization (WHO) term: all sugar added to foods, plus the sugar in honey, syrups and fruit juice. Sugar in whole fruit, vegetables and milk does not count. The WHO recommends getting less than 10% of daily energy from free sugars.
Fructose: Fruit sugar. It occurs in fruit, honey and syrups, tastes sweeter than table sugar and raises blood sugar only slightly. On food labels, fructose counts as sugar like any other.

G

Glucose: Also called dextrose, it is the body's main source of energy. It enters the blood quickly and raises blood sugar. Glucose is the reference value (100) for the glycemic index.
Glycemic index (GI): A number that shows how quickly and strongly a food raises blood sugar compared with pure glucose, which has a value of 100. Values up to 55 are considered low, 70 and above high.
Glycemic load: Shows how strongly a normal portion of a food affects blood sugar. Unlike the glycemic index, it also takes into account how much carbohydrate the portion contains. A food with a high glycemic index can still have a low glycemic load if it contains little carbohydrate.

H

Health claim: A marketing statement that links a food to health, for example "calcium is needed for the maintenance of normal bones". In the EU, only claims that have been checked and officially authorized are allowed.
Hidden sugar: Sugar in foods where you would not expect it, such as ketchup, bread or ready-made sauces. Or sugar that appears on the ingredients list under another name, such as glucose syrup, dextrose or barley malt extract.
Honey: Made by bees from flower nectar. Honey consists mostly of fructose and glucose and therefore counts as sugar. It is not suitable for babies under one year old.

I

Ingredients list: The list of all ingredients on the package. The ingredient with the largest share by weight comes first, the smallest last.
Insulin response: When we eat, the pancreas releases the hormone insulin into the blood. Insulin helps sugar move from the blood into the body's cells. This release is called the insulin response.
Inulin: A dietary fiber produced by plants such as chicory or Jerusalem artichoke. It barely tastes sweet but is often used in reduced-sugar foods, for example to give a creamy texture. Larger amounts can cause bloating.
Isomalt: A sugar alcohol (E 953) about half as sweet as sugar. It is made from beet sugar and is common in sugar-free hard candies. In larger amounts it can have a laxative effect.

J

JECFA: The international expert committee of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO). It assesses the safety of food additives and sets values such as the ADI.

K

Ketogenic diet: A very low-carbohydrate, very high-fat way of eating, usually with less than 50 g of carbohydrates a day. The body then gets more of its energy from fat and produces so-called ketone bodies.

L

Lactose: Milk sugar. It occurs naturally in milk and dairy products and counts as sugar on food labels.
"Light": In the EU, a product may only be called "light" or "lite" if it contains at least 30% fewer calories, less fat, sugar or another nutrient than comparable products. The label must say what has been reduced.
Low carb: A way of eating with considerably fewer carbohydrates than usual. There is no fixed threshold and no legal definition.
Low sugar: The food contains no more than 5 g of sugar per 100 g, or 2.5 g per 100 ml for drinks (German: „zuckerarm“).

M

Maltitol: A sugar alcohol (E 965) almost as sweet as sugar and common in sugar-free chocolate. It raises blood sugar somewhat – much less than sugar, but more than other sugar alcohols. In larger amounts it can have a laxative effect.
Maltodextrin: A powder made from broken-down starch that barely tastes sweet. In the body it quickly turns into glucose and raises blood sugar. Even so, it does not count as sugar on the label – so it can be found in "sugar-free" products.
Monk fruit: A small gourd-family fruit from southern China, also called luo han guo. Its sweet compounds, the mogrosides, are about 250 times sweeter than sugar. As of October 2026, monk fruit extract is not yet approved as a sweetener in the EU.

N

Net carbs: A term mainly used in low-carb diets: the carbohydrates that affect blood sugar. It is usually calculated by subtracting fiber and sugar alcohols from total carbohydrates. There is no legal definition. Note that EU labels already list fiber separately from carbohydrates, unlike US labels.
No added sugars: No sugar and no other sweetening ingredient such as honey or date syrup has been added to the product (German: „ohne Zuckerzusatz“). Sweeteners are still allowed. The product may still contain natural sugar, for example from fruit or milk – in that case the label must say "contains naturally occurring sugars".
Novel food: Any food that was hardly eaten in the EU before 15 May 1997, such as new sweeteners or exotic plants. Such foods need authorisation before they can be sold.
Nutrition claim: A marketing statement about a food's nutrients, such as "sugar-free", "low fat" or "high fiber". EU law sets out exactly when a product may make such a claim.

O

Oligofructose: A dietary fiber made of short chains of fructose, obtained for example from chicory. It tastes slightly sweet – about a third as sweet as sugar – and is often used in reduced-sugar foods.

Q

Quantum satis: Latin for "as much as needed". In EU food law it means there is no fixed maximum amount for an additive, but it may only be used in the amount needed to achieve its purpose.

R

Reactive hypoglycemia: Low blood sugar that occurs a few hours after eating. Typical symptoms are shaking, sweating or weakness. Whether blood sugar really is low can only be confirmed by measuring it during the symptoms – this is a matter for a doctor.
Reduced sugar: A claim allowed if a product contains at least 30% less sugar than comparable products – without having more calories.
Regulation (EU law): An EU law that applies directly in all member states without first having to be transposed into national law. In German it is abbreviated „VO“ (Verordnung), for example Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011 on food labeling.

S

Saccharin: The oldest artificial sweetener (E 954), about 300 to 500 times sweeter than sugar. It provides no calories and leaves the body unchanged.
Sorbitol: A sugar alcohol (E 420) that occurs naturally in fruit and is about half to two-thirds as sweet as sugar. In larger amounts it has a laxative effect.
Stevia (steviol glycosides): A sweetener from the leaves of the South American stevia plant, about 300 times sweeter than sugar and calorie-free. On the ingredients list it appears as steviol glycosides or E 960.
Sucralose: An artificial sweetener (E 955) made from table sugar and about 600 times as sweet. The body does not use it, so it provides no calories.
Sucrose: Ordinary table sugar from sugar beet or sugar cane. It is made of one part glucose and one part fructose. All other sweeteners are measured against its sweetness.
Sugar (on the label): When an EU nutrition table says "of which sugars", it does not mean just table sugar but all simple sugars – including fructose, glucose and lactose, whether added or naturally present. Sugar alcohols are not included.
Sugar addiction: An everyday term for a strong, hard-to-control desire for sweet things. "Sugar addiction" is not a recognized medical diagnosis. See also cravings.
Sugar alcohols (polyols): Sweet substances chemically related to sugar that contain no alcohol in the everyday sense. Examples are erythritol, xylitol and maltitol. They have fewer calories than sugar, raise blood sugar less and can have a laxative effect in larger amounts. If a food contains more than 10% of them, the label must say so.
Sugar-free: The food contains no more than 0.5 g of sugar per 100 g or 100 ml (German: „zuckerfrei“). It may still contain sweeteners or sugar alcohols.
"Sweetened with fruit": A marketing phrase (in German: „mit der Süße aus Früchten“) with no legal definition. Usually the product is sweetened with fruit juice concentrate – that is, with sugar extracted from fruit. For the body, this is sugar too.
Sweetness (relative sweetness): Shows how sweet a substance tastes compared with table sugar, which has a sweetness of 1. A substance with a sweetness of 200 tastes 200 times as sweet – so only a tiny amount is needed.

T

Tagatose: A rare sugar, made for example from lactose, that is almost as sweet as table sugar. The body absorbs only part of it, so blood sugar barely rises. Tagatose is approved in the EU.
Thaumatin: A sweet protein from a West African fruit (E 957), 2,000 to 3,000 times sweeter than sugar. It is usually used in very small amounts, also as a flavor enhancer.
Tooth-friendly: Foods that do not promote tooth decay or attack tooth enamel with acid (German: „zahnfreundlich“). This is checked with a special measurement in the mouth. The term has no legal definition.

V

"Vegan collagen": A potentially misleading marketing term: plants do not produce collagen. It usually refers to a mix of amino acids and vitamins that the body needs to build its own collagen.
VERISOL®: The brand name of a specific collagen powder made from pork collagen and marketed for the skin. A health claim about its effect on the skin is not authorized in the EU.

W

Whey protein isolate: A protein powder made from whey, the liquid left over from cheese making. It is at least 90% protein and contains very little fat and lactose.

X

Xylitol: A sugar alcohol (E 967), sometimes called birch sugar. It is about as sweet as sugar but has fewer calories and raises blood sugar only slightly. In larger amounts it can have a laxative effect. Xylitol is poisonous to dogs.

Y

Yacon syrup: A syrup made from the root of the South American yacon plant. It contains fiber but also sugar – so it is not sugar-free.

These explanations are for general information only and do not replace advice from a doctor or dietitian.