How are Carbohydrates treated?

In our scoring model, we evaluate various components of a product to help you understand how it aligns with your health goals. One such component is the total carbohydrate content. While carbohydrate intake is often scrutinized in dietary discussions, it's important to understand why we classify it as a neutral factor within our General Health scoring model and for numerous other conditions.

On a nutrition facts label, "Total Carbohydrate" represents the combined amount of different types of carbohydrates present in a product. These all provide the body with energy and include:

• Dietary fiber, a carbohydrate often found in fruits, vegetables, and whole grains, dietary fiber plays a crucial role in digestion and motility, while reducing the risk of developing cardiovascular disease.
• Total sugars includes both natural sugars like those found in fruit, vegetable, and dairy products as well as added sugars, which are sugars that are added during processing in candy, soda, and cereal products. While the FDA does not provide a limit on total sugars, it does recommend limiting calories from added sugars to less than 10% of total calories per day as higher sugar intake has been linked with increased risk of cardiovascular disease and other adverse health effects.

Because the total carbohydrate entry on a product label does not provide the full picture on carbohydrate composition, we opt to stay neutral on this nutrient as a whole and base our assessment on the distinct carbohydrate subtypes. Specifically, we categorize total sugars (via added sugars) as a negative factor given its adverse health implications, while dietary fiber is regarded as a positive contributor to our model and to overall health.

Source: FDA