Sticky math

It’s no wonder we have so much trouble figuring this stuff out.

What you see above are four bottles of “Sugar Free Syrup” from my local supermarket. But as the labels show, all sugar-free syrups are not created equal. It’s no wonder we have such a hard time deciding, and I can’t blame Katy for going with the real stuff — at least then she knows what she’s getting. (Yes, as I went through this exercise, I thought of a Bigfoot blog from over four months ago…).

You can click on the image for a closer look, but here are the key take-aways, as I see them:

• Cary’s Sugar Free Syrup: 12 carbs, 0 sugars, 11 sugar alcohols. Net carbs: 12 – 11 = 1
• Log Cabin Sugar Free : 8 carbs, 0 sugars, 7 sugar alcohols. Net carbs:  8 – 7 = 1
• Shop-Rite (store brand) Sugar Free Syrup: 11 carbs, 10 sugar alcohols. Net carbs: 11 – 10 = 1
• Vermont Sugar Free: 5 carbs, 4 sugar alcohols. Net carbs: 5 – 4 = 1

(Someone, somewhere, spread the word that carbs from sugar alcohols, and sometimes from fiber, don’t count.)

Now, let me say first off that I believe the whole sugar alcohol/net carb thing is a crock of shit. Seriously. A bag of sugar-alcohol-sweetened candies once led me to an uncomfortably intimate encounter with a public restroom (see also: laxative effect).