jam or jelly - no added sugar?

[abbefaith]

i only buy jelly every few months or so, so maybe the product is discontinued... but i was at the store looking for simply fruit jam/jelly. i remember it said no added sugar on the jar. i couldn't find it, and when i was looking for a substitute every jelly had high fructose corn syrup in it. the ones with no added sugar had splenda, and i don't want that either! i just want fruit. any thoughts?

[UtahMom54]

I just bought every flavor of "Simply Fruit" by Smucker's at Macey's Groc. store in Orem, UT. I'm on the 17 Day Diet, sugar is not allowed. You can buy "Simply Fruit" online at Smuckers.com too. I love it! I just tried blackberry "Simply Fruit" for the first time, and it was over the top! Thank you Smuckers for making such a delicious and much better for you product. I am going to stir some in my Greek yogurt, as the diet allows this and it sounds so much better for you too than all that sugared fruit at the bottom of most greek yogurt. I absolutely love Costco's "Fage" brand greek yogurt--the creamiest of all and their fruit flavored has 2 to 3 grams less sugar than the "Chobani" brand. It's better than ice cream IMHO.

[adventuresinbaking]

I bought some of the "low sugar" smuckers the other day when my local coop was closed. It was the only reasonably priced jam on the shelf that did not contain high fruitose corn syrup.

Not bad, the texture is a little different, but "low sugar" smuckers only contains regular sugar instead of artificial sweeteners.

[dukegirl]

I just made some "no-sugar added" jam (peach), using the Ball No-Sugar Needed pectin, that you can get at the supermarket. The box says "100% natural," and ingredients are: dextrose, pectin, locust bean gum, xanthan gum. The only other things I added were water and lemon juice. The instructions indicated you can add unsweetened fruit juice instead of water.

I have to say, it came out pretty good. It set up nicely and tasted of a fresh peach.

So, I guess jam can be made without added sugar.

[makecake]

Definition of Dextrose

Dextrose: Better known today as glucose, this sugar is the chief source of energy in the body. Glucose is chemically considered a simple sugar.

[dukegirl]

I know what dextrose is. The dextrose is in the pectin mix because pectin does need a bit of sugar (or something like calcium) to activate the jelling process. The box says it contains 1g of sugars per serving, which, to me, is negligible and doesn't add any real sweetness to the end product. The fruit itself also contains sugars. I read the OP to request ideas for jam or jelly with no *added* sugar, i.e., loads of sugars (or artificial sweeteners) added in addition to the fruit and/or pectin.

[BobB]

But what constitutes "a serving"? It could be as little as one tsp, in which case one gram of sugar is a significant amount.

[chocabot]

St Dalfour brand imported France uses concentrated fruit juice, fruit and pectin.

They make the best marmalade because it's not syrupy at all but more like a fruit spread.

[Indy 67]

For the poster who's looking for a jam with fruit tang, I recommend St. Dalfour's apricot fruit spread or the Mirabelle plum fruit spread.

The company's web site lists a Cranberry-Blueberry flavor that should be tangy, but I've never tried this combination.

http://www.stdalfour.com.au/

[abbychelle07]

I have been buying Smuckers Simply Fruit at the store lately, so it must still be out there. However, the first ingredient is "fruit syrup" which I thought meant some kind of all-fruit product. After all, the front of the jar says made with fruit and fruit ingredients only. But now I went online to smuckers.com to figure out what fruit syrup is. Under specialty items, Smuckers makes "fruit syrup" to sell by itself, and the first two ingredients are high-frutose corn syrup and corn syrup! Do you think that is what the first ingredient of Simply Fruit Jam is????
I know some packages are misleading, but that would be really misleading!

[nc213]

If you're near a Trader Joe's, they usually have quite a few spreads that are just fruit. Most are very good.

[krez]

Yes, this is where I get mine - usually strawberry.

[MakingSense]

I think "no added sugar" are some of those "weasel words" that food maufacturers use to lead us down the garden path. Maybe some of the CH food science types will weigh in here.

A certain amount of sugar has to be added to fruit juices used in jelly to make it jell and to prevent spoilage and fermentation. Just science. Flip through jelly recipes in coobooks or on-line. You can use products like Sure-Jell but I think even then you have to use sugar. The times I've tried to cut back, the jelly was runny.
It's possible to make freezer preserves and jams without adding sugar but not shelf-stable types. They mold without the sugar to act as a preservative.
I guess we have all come to think of sugar, salt and fat as Devil's poisons and forget their place as useful preservatives.

If you want low or no-sugar jam, try making your own in small batches. It's very easy when you can get fresh organic or locally grown fruit at the farmers' market. No special equipment is required and you can store one or two pints in the freezer. The price would probably be comparable or less than what you would find in the store.

[Kelli2006]

Smucker's "Simply Fruit" line of preserves have no added cane sugar or HFCS. I thought it was all natural, but I double-checked a few jars that I have in my pantry to make sure.

[abbefaith]

yeah that is the kind i was looking for but it wasn't at the store! =(

[OldDog]

The "Simply Fruit" line is available at Smuckers.com

http://tinyurl.com/22aa2s

[Howard_2]

This "no sugar added" is a kind of truthful lie.

There may be "no sugar added" in the strict sense of "no cane sugar added", but preserves always require *some* sort of (natural) sweetener to jell. In this case the sweetener is the juices that are added, or the corn syrup.

As a more general matter, I think it's a good idea to stay away from any product that's been "fiddled with", e.g. had the fat removed, the sugar, etc. The vendor almost always must either tell a lie, usually by omission, or make up for what's missing by adding something that's not so great for you!

[Neely_Ohara]

When I look for "no sugar added" type of products, I always check the ingredients for corn syrup or HFCS -- since that's typically what's used as "sugar" these days.

That said, in addition to the tips you're getting here, I find that the national grocery chains (Kroger, Safeway, Whole Foods, etc.) all have house-label preserves that are just fruit -- no corn syrup or cane sugar added. To me, these taste as good as the national brands, and tend to be somewhat less expensive.

[macca]

We have Polaner All fruit strawberry at home. I have not tried it, but the kids like it. I looked up the ingredients:

JuiceConcentrate (pear/grape), strawberries, fruit pectin, natural flavor and citric acid. There is also a note that the sugars are from the fruit and fruit juice concentrate.

Not sure if this is what you are looking for.

[Kajikit]

I just opened a jar of poloner seedless blackberry fruit spread and it's pretty bland and tasteless. I expected MORE fruit flavour from it than regular jam, but it had less... very disappointing.
If you just want jam with no cornsyrup, look for European varieties. The Smuckers 'organic' line doesn't have cornsyrup either, because (thank goodness) corn syrup is not an organic product.

[macca]

This is not the fruit spread, it is labelled all fruit. The fruit spread has both corn syrup and HFCS- the all fruit has only fruit and fruit juices. Now I am gooing to have to go home and try the strawberry all fruit and see what it is like!

[Kajikit]

This blackberry one IS the 'All Fruit'. Ingredients Pear/grape juice concentrate, blackberries, petin, citric acid and natural flavour... They used too much sweetener for my taste and it had no berry 'tang' at all.

[macca]

Well- I gave the strawberry a taste test. It was good- sweet, and tasted like strawberries. I am not a good taster for jelly, however, as I prefer marmalade to jelly or jam. But, as I said earlier, the kid slike it, and it is less "processed" than a lot of the jellies in the supermarket.

[chloe103]

Head to your nearest health/natural food store. They should have some jam sweetened only with fruit juice.

There are also a few really good brands out there which use pure cane sugar, in case your objection is to HFCS rather than to sugar itself.