Are some 'no added sugar' claims really illegal?
At the start of the year, Belgian consumer group Test Achats filed a complaint to the Belgian food authority over a company, Sweet-Switch, because its products claim to contain 'no added sugars' but are sweetened with stevia.
Test Achats based its complaint on the EU law which states that a 'no added sugar' claim "may only be made where the product does not contain any added mono- or disaccharides or any other food used for its sweetening properties".
Sweet-Switch's on-pack claim was "pure and simply illegal", it said.
But claims such as ‘no added sugar’, ‘sugar free’ or ‘low sugar’ are commonly used by some of the biggest global manufacturers and retailers - so is this the case?
FoodNavigator rounded up views from legal experts, the European Commission, Test Achats and Sweet-Switch...
Read more: Are some 'no added sugar' claims really illegal?
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