When labels are misleading

DEAR DR. GOTT: I have had great success with your no-flour, no-sugar diet. You have indicated that natural sugar from fruit is OK. I drink 100 percent cranberry juice, and the label states that the ingredients are 100 percent fruit juices from grapes, cranberries and apples (water, juice concentrates), natural flavors, ascorbic acid (vitamin C) and citric acid. The nutrition facts state the product contains 35 grams of sugar, which I assume is natural fruit sugar. I drink many glasses daily, but now wonder whether I have been inadvertently consuming added sugar and not natural fruit sugar.

DEAR READER: Natural fruit sugar, known as fructose, is an acceptable component to your diet, as long as your doctor has not indicated otherwise. The sugars listed on your nutrition facts label indicate the natural fruit sugar. If there were added sugar, known as sucrose, it would be listed on the ingredients panel. You are not consuming excess sucrose.

My only concern about your consumption of "many glasses daily" is that you are taking in extra calories. Each 8-ounce serving of your juice contains 140 calories. If you drink four glasses a day, that amounts to 560 calories, more than one-quarter of an average person's daily caloric requirement of 2,000. That means that you should then consume only 1,440 calories throughout the rest of the day. If you have three meals a day,

that's 480 calories per meal. If you have snacks, that number will be further reduced.

Now, I know that my diet plan is not about counting calories, but the point of eliminating flour and sugar is to reduce the number of simple carbs and empty calories. By doing this, most people bring their caloric intakes into the normal range of 2,000 to 2,500 per day. If you just replace the calories from flour and sugar with calories from other, more healthful foods, you are still taking in excess amounts.

My suggestion to you would be to reduce your juice and increase your water consumption. If you do not like plain water, try herbal tea or no-sugar-added flavored waters. In this way, you can take in adequate fluids without the unnecessary calories.

However, this topic brings up a pet peeve of mine: misleading labels. You included the juice label with your letter that states "100% Cranberry" in large, bold print, but in much smaller print below this, in an area often ignored by consumers, it then states "flavored juice blend from concentrate with added ingredients." The label even has pictures of actual cranberries on it.

If the product is labeled "100% Cranberry," it should be made from cranberries only. If it contains other fruit juices, it clearly isn't 100 percent cranberry juice. The other additives listed on the label are preservatives and additional flavorings that add shelf life and make the product taste better.

The nation's diet concerns would be better served by making the nutrition and ingredient labels easier to read and understand. These panels need to be a larger print size and give total daily recommended amounts rather than percentages. Also, a product should not be allowed to call itself something it is not. Rather than "100% Cranberry," your juice should be called "100% Fruit Juice," with a smaller, yet easy-to-see line below that states "from cranberries, grapes and apples."

To provide related information, I am sending you a copy of my Health Report "A Strategy for Losing Weight: An Introduction to the No Flour, No Sugar Diet." Other readers who would like a copy should send a self-addressed stamped No. 10 envelope and a $2 check or money order to Newsletter, P.O. Box 167, Wickliffe, OH 44092. Be sure to mention the title.

Dr. Peter Gott is a retired physician and the author of the book "Dr. Gott's No Flour, No Sugar Diet," available at most chain and independent bookstores, and the recently published "Dr. Gott's No Flour, No Sugar Cookbook." Copyright 2010, United Feature Syndicate Inc.