A common supermarket puzzle is why products like yogurt, cottage cheese, white cheese or milk drinks can say “no added sugar” or even “sugar free,” yet still list carbohydrates and sugars on the nutrition table. Dr. Maya Rozman explains that in most natural dairy products, the sugar shown is lactose, the milk’s own natural sugar, not added white sugar.
Rozman says the key distinction is between “sugars” in the nutrition table and “added sugar” in the ingredients list. Milk contains lactose from the start, just as fruit contains fructose and carrots contain natural sugar. So a plain yogurt can show sugars even if the ingredients list only includes milk, milk proteins, cultures or salt. The correct label to look for is usually “no added sugar.”
Lactose is a disaccharide made of glucose and galactose, broken down in the small intestine by the enzyme lactase. People with lactose intolerance make less lactase and may have gas, bloating, abdominal pain or diarrhea. For people who digest dairy normally, lactose is simply one carbohydrate among others, alongside protein, calcium, potassium and sometimes fat.
Rozman says lactose is not identical to table sugar. It is less sweet than sucrose, has about 4 calories per gram like other carbohydrates, and in dairy products its effect is softened by protein and sometimes fat, which can slow stomach emptying and carbohydrate absorption. She notes that a 150-gram plain yogurt may contain about 6 to 8 grams of carbohydrate, mostly lactose, while flavored products with 14 to 18 grams often include added sugar or sweetened ingredients.
Her advice is to check the ingredients list first. If it contains sugar, cane sugar, glucose syrup, fructose syrup, honey, silan, jam or sweetened fruit puree, the product contains added sugar. If the list is short and contains only dairy ingredients and cultures, the sugars are usually natural lactose. She adds that lactose-free dairy is not sugar-free, because the lactose is often broken down into glucose and galactose for easier digestion. For people with diabetes, dairy can still fit into the diet if they choose unsweetened products and watch portions.
