The paste is a way of whitewashing sugar
Spain's per-capita sugar consumption exceeds 34kg annually; 25% of adults surpass WHO limits despite buying less table sugar at home. Sugar disguises itself as dextrose, maltodextrin, date paste, and fruit concentrates in savory products like pizza, embutidos, and vegetable stir-fries.
- Spain's average daily sugar consumption is 94 grams—nearly double WHO recommendations of 50 grams
- 25 percent of Spanish adults exceed WHO sugar limits despite buying 37 percent less table sugar at home
- 70 percent of new type 2 diabetes diagnoses are linked to dietary patterns involving excessive sugar
- Sugar hides under at least 15 different names: dextrose, maltodextrin, fructose, starch, trehalose, glucose, maltose, syrup, molasses, fruit juice concentrate, nectar, puree, dextrin, lactose, and carob
Spaniards consume 94g of sugar daily—nearly double WHO recommendations—with most coming from processed foods where sugar hides under different names in sauces, snacks, breads, and drinks.
Walk into any Spanish supermarket and you'll find a paradox sitting on the shelves. Spaniards are buying less sugar for home use than they did a decade ago—consumption of table sugar has dropped nearly 37 percent since 2012, from 4.1 kilos per person annually to 2.6 kilos. Yet somehow, the average person in Spain consumes more than 34 kilos of sugar each year. A quarter of Spanish adults now exceed the World Health Organization's recommended daily limit. The numbers tell a story that contradicts what we think we're doing in our kitchens.
The WHO suggests keeping free sugar intake below 50 grams per day, ideally closer to 25. Spain's average is 94 grams daily—nearly double the upper threshold. The culprit isn't the obvious one. It's not the ice cream aisle or the pastry section, though those contribute. The real problem lives in the products we don't think of as sweet at all: the tomato sauce, the frozen pizza, the bag of salty snacks, the oat drink we bought because it seemed healthier. The food industry has become expert at hiding sugar in places where no one expects to find it, using names most people don't recognize.
Consider the products marketed as wholesome alternatives. A chocolate spread called Realfooding advertises itself as having no added sugars or sweeteners, yet contains 16.4 grams of sugar per 100 grams—all from date paste. Raw fruit and nut bars from Nakd Pack boast 100 percent natural ingredients and no added sugar while delivering between 38.8 and 52 grams of sugar per 100 grams depending on the variety. The date paste works as a kind of sugar laundering. When dates are crushed into paste, the cellular structure that would normally slow sugar absorption gets destroyed. A whole date releases its sugars slowly as you chew; the paste delivers them all at once, unfiltered into the bloodstream. As one food chemist explained it, the paste is "a way of whitewashing sugar." The jams marketed as "zero refined sugar" follow the same playbook, substituting pressed apple and carob for table sugar, yet delivering 41 grams of sugar per 100 grams. A strawberry jam from St Dalfour claims to be "100 percent fruit, sweetened only with concentrated grape juice," which translates to 47 percent sugar from grape and date concentrates.
The real invisibility happens in savory foods. Campofrío's minifuets—those small processed meat snacks—contain 3.2 grams of sugar per 100 grams, yet the word "sugar" never appears on the ingredient list. Instead, you'll find dextrose and lactose, chemical names that obscure what they are. Frozen vegetable stir-fries, instant soups, deli meats, and tuna cakes all follow this pattern. The food industry uses sugar for reasons that have little to do with taste. It's a preservative, a moisture retainer, an acidity regulator. It's cheap. Different forms work better for different purposes—inverted sugar for pastries, glucose syrup for products that will be heated. The sugar can come from anywhere: corn, fruit, milk, dates. It can be called by dozens of names: maltodextrin, fructose, starch, dextrin, trehalose, glucose, maltose, syrup, molasses, fruit juice concentrate, nectar, or puree.
Bread and pizza, those foundational foods, contain sugar as standard ingredients in their industrial versions. A brioche-style bread carries 13 grams per 100 grams, which might be expected. But lighter, seemingly healthier bread varieties also contain sugar, along with modified starches and dextrose. Pizza dough in factory-made versions includes wheat starch, modified starch, dextrose, and maltodextrin—all forms of sugar. Fruit juices, even those labeled "100 percent natural" or "no added sugar," contain substantial amounts of free sugar because the act of juicing breaks down the fruit's cellular structure and releases the sugars all at once. A small glass of one popular juice brand contains 20 grams of sugar; another contains 14. Homemade juice is no different—a glass of fresh orange juice contains 9 grams of sugar, apple juice 11 grams, pineapple and grape juice 13 grams each. The body absorbs these sugars far more rapidly than it would from eating whole fruit.
Tomato sauce, that everyday staple, has become a sugar delivery system. A jar labeled as artisanal contains 12.5 grams of sugar per 100 grams. Industrial versions range from 7.8 to 8.4 grams. Even small-batch producers add 7.6 to 11.5 grams per 100. Ketchup is worse—Heinz contains 22.8 grams per 100 grams. The friendship between tomato and sugar, once a pinch to cut acidity, has become industrial policy. Oat drinks marketed as having no added sugar can contain 5.5 grams per 100 milliliters because the oat starch has been hydrolyzed—broken down into simple sugars that are easier to digest. A product labeled "light" or "diet" might still contain enormous amounts of sugar because manufacturers only need to reduce sugar, fat, or calories by 30 percent compared to the original product. If the original was already loaded with sugar, the reduction is meaningless. A light dulce de leche still delivers 35.6 grams of sugar per serving.
The consequences are becoming visible in hospitals. Around 70 percent of new type 2 diabetes diagnoses are linked to dietary patterns involving excessive sugar consumption. The ingredient list doesn't always reveal what's there. The palate doesn't always detect it. The nutrition label doesn't distinguish between different types of sugar. But the body notices. The supermarket shelves remain full of these products, each one a small Trojan horse, waiting to enter.
Notable Quotes
The paste is practically sugar in its entirety. When we crush it into paste, we break everything at the cellular level. The sugars that were locked inside cells are now free and enter your body all at once.— Miguel Mateo, food chemist
A product can be light and still contain enormous amounts of sugar because manufacturers only need to reduce sugar, fat, or calories by 30 percent compared to the original product.— Food industry analysis
The Hearth Conversation Another angle on the story
Why does the food industry add sugar to things like pizza dough or frozen vegetables? It doesn't make sense from a taste perspective.
It's almost never about taste. Sugar is a preservative, like salt. It retains water, keeps products moist, regulates acidity. It's also cheap. Different forms work better in different conditions—some sugars burn at high heat, others don't. It's engineering, not flavor.
So when I see "date paste" on a label, I should treat it like regular sugar?
Exactly. The paste is just sugar with the cellular structure destroyed. When you eat a whole date, you chew it slowly and your body absorbs the sugar gradually. Paste delivers it all at once, straight into your bloodstream. The name makes it sound natural, but metabolically it's identical to table sugar.
How is a product allowed to say "no added sugar" when it's full of sugar?
Because technically no sugar was added—it came from fruit juice concentrate or date paste or hydrolyzed starch. The law is literal. The manufacturer didn't add sugar; they added an ingredient that is sugar. It's a loophole, not a lie.
If 70 percent of new diabetes cases are linked to diet, why hasn't this changed?
Because the sugar is invisible. You don't taste it in tomato sauce or frozen vegetables. The names on the label don't say "sugar." And the industry has no incentive to change—these products sell, they're profitable, and they're technically legal. The burden falls on the consumer to decode the label.
Is there any product that's actually safe?
Whole fruit. Whole vegetables. Things you cook yourself with ingredients you recognize. Once you start buying processed food, you're gambling with what's actually in it. The safest approach is to assume sugar is there unless proven otherwise.