There are two things that I can’t quite decide about: fruit and honey.  Do they really count as sweeteners?  I mean, I can walk out in my yard, right now, and pick a handful of grapes.  On the way back to the house, I can stop off at one of the bee hives and tear out as much honey as I’d care to eat (assuming that I’ve donned my bee suit for this hypothetical little walk).

So, are those sweeteners or just sweet food?

Now, I can also buy any number of snacks that are “fruit juice sweetened.”  If fruit’s not really a sweetener, then those things don’t really have “added sweeteners,” right?

The answer to this little dilemma, I think, is the processing.  In either case, the added sweetener idea has to do with the concentration of sugars from their natural form.  “But honey’s not processed?  It’s super-sweet right out of the hive!  It’s not a sweetener!  QED!”  Oh, you think you’re so smart, imaginary counter-argument person, but let us do a little review of the sweet, delicious goodness that is honey.

Continue reading MMWS: Day 2 – Honey and Fruit »