Too much fructose in ready-to-eat foods

Consumer Center warns against too much fructose in ready-to-eat foods: Fructose intolerance as a cause of intestinal complaints has gained in importance in western industrialized countries in recent years. That's why the Verbraucherzentrale Hamburg has tested 35 ready-to-eat foods for their fructose content.

About 20 percent of the population suffer from abdominal cramping or bloating due to intolerance (fructose malabsorption) after eating or drinking foods containing fructose (fructose). Fructose malabsorption may be congenital or acquired.

Often affected or treating physicians know nothing of this intolerance. Thus, the symptoms are often misunderstood and those suffering from the incompatibilities experienced for their gastrointestinal complaints no diagnosis, let alone help.

Symptoms arise when the fructose in the small intestine is not properly digested and absorbed and enters the colon. There he is metabolized so that he can cause bloating, abdominal pain and cramps and foul-smelling stools, as well as diarrhea.

There are, according to the consumer center Hamburg, studies, according to which a high fructose intake can lead to an increase in our blood fat levels, lowering insulin sensitivity and fatty liver and obesity. Increased drinking of sweetened beverages can cause gout in men. A problem that is still unclear is how much fructose a normal organism tolerates daily, or is good for him.

Consumer Center Hamburg is testing finished products
The consumer center Hamburg has now tested in an investigation 35 products on their fructose content, since there is currently no uniform labeling obligation for the fructose content.

Fructose is also found in fruitless products such as fitness bars, drinks, e.g. Soft drinks, sweets, children's food, milk shakes or ice cream included. Since the word fructose has a supposedly healthier appearance than table sugar, it is finding its way into more and more food products. The consumer center Hamburg found in 9 products over 10 g of free fructose per serving. Free fructose is of particular concern to people with fructose intolerance. In 14 beverage products, between 10 and 20 g of fructose were found, with 4 over 20 g per serving.

Recommendations of the Consumer Center

Certainly it is not a novelty that freshly prepared foods are better than ready-made foods. Exemplary daily schedules showed that the amounts of fructose consumed can easily be more than twice that of a balanced daily schedule. Therefore, Karin Riemann-Lorenz from the Consumer Center points out that the additional enrichment in the finished products is questionable.

The consumer center Hamburg therefore calls on consumers to check the ingredient lists for finished products. Highly sugared products and high-fructose diet powders and diabetic foods better. Better to use fresh fruit rather than frequent fruit smoothies.

The Consumer Center addresses the request to the manufacturers and the legislator, „Label finished foodstuffs with a traffic light so that the sugar content is immediately recognizable“ and a „Mandatory quantity declaration of the fructose content in the course of allergen labeling“.

If consumers are suspected of fructose intolerance, they should seek immediate medical attention to a physician or naturopath who is familiar with these symptoms in diagnosis and treatment. (Thorsten Fischer, Naturopath Osteopathy, 21.01.2010)