How to avoid artificial sweeteners?

Hello. I would like to know how I can make sure I don't buy any food or drink that contains sugar substitutes, artificial or not.

I am talking about sweeteners such as sucralose, aspartame, acesulfame potassium (Ace K), stevia and similar.

When I've bought soft drinks in Japan, I usually check the calorie content. If a sweet drink or candy has low calories, I assume it contains artificial sweeteners and choose a different item. I cannot read kanji, but I think I know the kanji for sugar/carbohydrates and if it says 0, I buy something else.

One concern is gari, served in sushi restaurants. Does it contain artificial sweeteners? In my home country, the gari selection at supermarkets is very limited. All the gari jars I have found say they contain aspartame or other sweeteners I want to avoid. Is this the same in Japan?

I would be happy if you could tell me some phrases for grocery stores and restaurants. "Does this contain any artificial sweeteners" would be a useful one.

Is there a word for "sugar substitute" in Japanese? Some sweeteners are not artificial but come from natural sources (xylitol, sorbitol, stevia) but I want to avoid them and I was wondering if the word for "artificial sweetener" is enough to cover them all.

Finally, are drinks and food items in grocery stores required by law to state if they contain artificial sweeteners? If yes, what kind of markings should I look for? I know not to buy drinks that say Light or Zero in the name.

I'm grateful for any help.

(Not) Some Animal,
I hope somebody can address your specific concerns but if I were in your position,
I would drink plain water and prepare my own beverages/meals where I can control what I could add.
I'm unsure if any seller could tell you what chemical additives are used/added in the food/drinks they sell.
Consider that the manufacturer most unlikely has a dedicated line for just such exclusions; both run on the same line and some mixing will inevitably occur and Oops!...

You could be harmed by a misprint or misinterpretation;-)

Are you also allergic to MSG(Mono Sodium Glutamate)?

Most actual scientific evidence points to sugar being far worse for your health than artificial sweeteners.

Convenience stores and supermarkets sell dozens and dozens of bottled teas that don't contain sugar or artificial sweeteners. Some have caffeine, some don't, and many of them are quite tasty. Why not try a few of those?

Umami Dearest, I would just like to add something in light of your comment on artificial sweeteners vs sugar. My father has Type II Diabetes and his doctor told him to avoid artificial sweeteners at all costs. She told him that if he HAS to have sugar, he needs to go for the real thing instead of artificial sweeteners.

I have no idea what her reasoning was, but do recall that she was really stressing this. It's possible that her advice wasn't scientifically sound, but it's also possible that there was some reason for these comments related to diabetes. So, maybe OP has diabetes and is listening to a doctor like my father's.

I don't know... That's my only guess. Again, I'm not sure of the science behind it and it could be completely misguided advice from the doc.

GoLizzy, it's true that there are certain very rare medical conditions that preclude the use of aspartame in particular; perhaps that's the source of the doctor's advice?

On the other hand though, there's an awful lot of misinformation about artificial sweeteners despite overwhelming evidence of their safety in tests in countries all around the world. And doctors aren't completely immune to it (which you seem to recognize with the numerous caveats in your comments).

Anyway, I'm all in favor of people making up their own minds after researching and weighing the evidence.

Hi again Umami Dearest,

Yes, I know that doctors are sometimes wrong themselves. This is because my own mother is a doctor and she's definitely latched onto some scientifically questionable fads before :P

Anyway, I love "calorie off" stuff and I must say that I haven't had any problems with them in Japan. Only thing I really need to try to start avoiding are the preservative-riddled conbini foods that I love getting way too often on the way home from work... haha

I agree that OP should try the natural teas!

I wonder-- if something doesn't say "Calorie Off," does that mean it only contains natural sugar?

GoLizzy, that's a good question. I imagine almost all products with artificial sweeteners would tend to advertise the low-calorie "benefit", but of course not doing so is no guarantee of the absence of sweeteners.

I do also indulge in the occasional convenience-store gyoza or Okinawan champuru stir-fry myself - they're just so convenient.

To GoLizzy

I was very surprised to hear about your fathers doctor saying avoid artificial sweeteners , i have type 2 diabetes my self and my doctor says go for artificial sweeteners , my info about type 2 is that normal suger have a big effect on your blood sugar, so avoid normal sugar please, other sugar types like xylitol,mannitol,sorbitol all sugar types ending with "tol" have 50 % effect on your blood sugar , but artificial sweeteners like stevia,aspatame,ace K, sucralose ect have 0 % effect on your blood sugar , so always go for artificial sweeteners.

Brian