Some Nerdy Definitions To Help Your Conversations

Here are some handy definitions for nerds like me:

Sucrose: a pure crystalline disaccharide extracted from sugar cane or sugar beets and consisting of glucose and fructose joined together in the molecule.

Fructose: a crystalline monosaccharide found in sweet fruits and in honey; fruit sugar.

Dextrose: a right-handed form of glucose found in plants and animals and in the human blood, and made by the hydrolysis of starch with acids or enzymes.

Nutrition: nutritious, nourishing; a nutritious ingredient or substance in food.

Nourish: to feed or sustain (any plant or animal) with substances necessary to life and growth; to foster, develop, promote.

Essential: of or constituting the intrinsic, fundamental nature of something. Basic, inherent; aboslute, complete, perfect.

Natural: of or arising from nature; in accordance with what is found or expected in nature; produced or existing in nature; not artificial or manufactured.

Corn Syrup: a syrup made from cornstarch; it is a mixture of dextrose, maltose and dextrins.

Honey: a thick, sweet, syrupy substance that bees make as food from the nectar of flowers and store in honeycombs.

-Webster's New World: College Dictionary, 2002

Bonus items directly from the FDA website:

"What is meant by sugars on the Nutrition Facts label?

Answer: To calculate sugars for the Nutrition Facts label, determine the weight in grams of all free monosaccharides and disaccharides in the sample of food. The other nutrients declared on the nutrition label are defined in 21 CFR 101.9(c). 21 CFR 101.9(c)(6)(ii)

What are the requirements to use the word 'Healthy'?

Answer: You may use the term "healthy'' or related terms as an implied nutrient content claim on the label or in labeling of a food that is useful in creating a diet that is consistent with dietary recommendations if the food meets the conditions for total fat, saturated fat, cholesterol, and other nutrients

-http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/2lg-toc.html

What is the difference between natural and artificial ingredients?

Answer: Natural ingredients are derived from natural sources (e.g., soybeans and corn provide lecithin to maintain product consistency; beets provide beet powder used as food coloring). Other ingredients are not found in nature and therefore must be synthetically produced as artificial ingredients. Also, some ingredients found in nature can be manufactured artificially and produced more economically, with greater purity and more consistent quality, than their natural counterparts. For example, vitamin C or ascorbic acid may be derived from an orange or produced in a laboratory."

-http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/foodic.html