Free sugar is what we call any sugar that is added to a food or drink. Or the sugar that's already in honey, syrup and fruit juice. They are free because they are not inside the cells of the food we eat. The SACN advised that sugars naturally present in fruits and vegetables that have been mixed, pulped, pureed, extruded or powdered should be treated as free sugars, on the basis that the cellular structure has been broken down (; but that the sugars naturally present in other types of processed fruits and vegetables (dried, canned (except juices or syrup), stewed, pressed) do not fall within the definition of free sugars.
The fruits and vegetables in some products are processed using more than one method. If one of the methods used is included in the definition of free sugars (Table), then the sugar in the fruit or vegetable is treated as free sugars. Thus, for example, nuts that have been crushed or extruded would be included as free sugars. The SACN also reported that there was no scientific basis for treating the sugars in vegetables differently from the sugars in fruits.
On this basis, the definition of free sugars includes sugars from tomato puree and other vegetable purees, pasta and powders, fruit purees, pasta and powders, and sugars from extruded fruit products, but not products made from pressed nuts. Free sugars are sugars that, according to the World Health Organization, should be limited to no more than 5% of total calories. These are the sugars that are added to foods and the sugars found naturally in honey, fruit juices and syrups. There are surprisingly high amounts of free sugars in everyday foods and beverages, which manufacturers add (such as fructose, sucrose, glucose and corn sugar) or are added at home, such as in cereals, hot drinks and during cooking.
