Talk:Fructose
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Corn syrup entry in carbohydrate content table
I noticed the corn syrup entry in the table "Carbohydrate content of commercial sweeteners" doesn't have percentages that add up to 100. I couldn't find the real numbers, but I'm pretty confident that's a mistake. 142.150.224.138 (talk) 20:20, 16 November 2017 (UTC)
Fructose is a Hexose
Perhaps mention that fructose is considered a hexose sugar? 108.2.177.109 (talk) 05:39, 13 February 2011 (UTC)
Mention how fructose is synthesised?
Photosynthesis results in glucose and oxygen, but how do plants make fructose? 207.191.183.218 (talk) 22:17, 11 March 2011 (UTC)
Metabolic priority in regards to liver disease
- Fructose#Liver disease: "When fructose reaches the liver," says Dr. William J. Whelan, a biochemist at the University of Miami School of Medicine, "the liver goes bananas and stops everything else to metabolize the fructose."
I have heard similar things said of alcohol. Is there any evidence that EVERYTHING is stopped to metabolize fructose? If there were free fructose and free alcohol, which would the liver prioritize, or perhaps it is able to do multiple jobs simultaneously? DB (talk) 19:05, 12 April 2011 (UTC)
Definition of "high/excess fructose consumption/intake/diet"
These phrases occur many times in the article but no actual indication is given of exactly what is meant. (I.e. exactly how much is "too much"?)
Does anyone know?
Thanks
-- TyrS chatties 06:38, 15 April 2011 (UTC)
Composition of Corn Syrup =
In the table Carbohydrate content of commercial sweeteners (percent) the numbers in the corn syrup row don't add to 100%. What is the remaining 65% carbohydrate content? It would be great if somebody more informed than myself could verify whether this discrepancy is intentional.108.67.71.45 (talk) 06:07, 20 April 2011 (UTC)
I'm also convinced this is an error. Corn syrup's carbohydrate content should be glucose and perhaps maltose. See: http://www.ochef.com/362.htm but it needs a more official source. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 134.121.109.99 (talk) 20:35, 10 August 2011 (UTC)
Unsupported claim / non-sequitur
The article states:
- Although all simple sugars have nearly identical chemical formulae, each has distinct chemical properties. This can be illustrated with pure fructose. A journal article reports that, "...fructose given alone increased the blood glucose almost as much as a similar amount of glucose (78% of the glucose-alone area)".
These statements have no apparent relation to one another. A more obvious example of distinct chemical properties would be differing solubility in water, not a random biological pheonomenon. Certainly biology is at its roots chemistry, but many steps removed and with various selective agents driving reaction preferences. Without additional context the example given does not illustrate the point at hand. --Belg4mit (talk) 14:36, 11 July 2011 (UTC)
- Agreed, but I don't know how to fix that without deleting those 2 sentences. Dr. Morbius (talk) 20:04, 12 July 2011 (UTC)
Learning about sugars, I decided to look here to see what comments were posted. It is awkward. Stumbling upon this, I recommend either removing the second sentence completely, or separating the two sentences (into their appropriate paragraphs, but I have no suggestion where), or if you don't want to remove the second (less desirable because the second still does not support the first) you may consider something like this:
- While all simple sugars have nearly identical chemical formulae, for the most part, each has quite distinct chemical properties. One [notable?] exception is illustrated with pure fructose: a journal article reports that, "...fructose given alone increased the blood glucose almost as much as a similar amount of glucose (78% of the glucose-alone area)".
However, I think I have read in other places (wiki) that say (or seem to say) that Fructose has an effect that differs from Sucrose - the combination of the Fructose and Glucose in the Sucrose being theorized as the contributing factor to the difference. The presence of the Glucose somehow moderating the Fructose's (different) effect. (not my field, so it's getting complicated for me)
However, the 'journal article' should be cited if the second sentence remains. Hope this helps & Regards -- Steve -- (talk) 17:11, 11 December 2011 (UTC)
I just want to also say that this paragraph is troubling. In fact it contradicts a paragraph a bit later that says GI of fructose is 19 vs. 100 for glucose. GI = glycemic index = effect on blood glucose. How can it be 78% and 19%? It also contradicts info on metabolism of fructose which happens mostly in the liver whereas glucose just passes into the bloodstream. From my reading I think the 78% is not trustworthy. I have seen more references to fructose not having a significant impact on blood glucose and insulin. It could be just that the 78% study was with diabetic patients only. At any rate, it needs to be called out somehow. Sorry I'm not expert enough to have a better suggestion... 74.3.100.30 (talk) 00:28, 6 November 2012 (UTC) JPL
Fructolysis
I corrected some errors in the fructolysis section (previously claimed that initial metabolism produces fructose-1,6-biphosphate) and added a link to the fructolysis page. I think large sections here are redundant with the fructolysis page and could be scrapped. Also, the further metabolic processes discussed (glycogen and triglyceride synthesis) are not intimately related to fructose, and are described on separate pages, and should probably be removed. Rollowicz (talk) 09:29, 30 July 2011 (UTC)
Out of topic info in intro
This seems out of place to me: "Sucrose is a disaccharide with a molecule of glucose and a molecule of fructose bonded together with a glycosidic linkage. Most modern fruits and vegetables have been bred to have much higher sugar content than the wild plants they are descended from." — Preceding unsigned comment added by 18.189.112.118 (talk) 02:45, 19 October 2011 (UTC)
I agree, and I deleted both sentances. Kduckworth (talk) 05:56, 5 February 2012 (UTC)kate
Figure 1 is incorrect
The beta D fructose in Figure 1 is incorrect. See http://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fruktos for the correct image. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Htreadup (talk • contribs) 12:57, 27 October 2011 (UTC)
- The image used as Figure 1 (File:Fructose-isomers.jpg) does not have anything labeled "beta D fructose". Can you be more specific about which image is your concern? -- Ed (Edgar181) 13:04, 27 October 2011 (UTC)
- Agreed, the figure is actually of Tagatose, not Fructose, and needs to be removed or replaced with the correct figure. AJRobbins (talk) 17:13, 29 April 2015 (UTC)
Jalal DI, Smits G, Johnson RJ, Chonchol M.
Increased fructose associates with elevated blood pressure.
J Am Soc Nephrol. 2010 Sep;21(9):1543-9. Epub 2010 Jul 1.
Free PMC Article
http://jasn.asnjournals.org/cgi/pmidlookup?view=long&pmid=20595676
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/pmid/20595676/?tool=pubmed
Abstract
The recent increase in fructose consumption in industrialized nations mirrors the rise in the prevalence of hypertension, but epidemiologic studies have inconsistently linked these observations. We investigated whether increased fructose intake from added sugars associates with an increased risk for higher BP levels in US adults without a history of hypertension. We conducted a cross-sectional analysis using the data collected from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES 2003 to 2006) involving 4528 adults without a history of hypertension. Median fructose intake was 74 g/d, corresponding to 2.5 sugary soft drinks each day. After adjustment for demographics; comorbidities; physical activity; total kilocalorie intake; and dietary confounders such as total carbohydrate, alcohol, salt, and vitamin C intake, an increased fructose intake of > or =74 g/d independently and significantly associated with higher odds of elevated BP levels: It led to a 26, 30, and 77% higher risk for BP cutoffs of > or =135/85, > or =140/90, and > or =160/100 mmHg, respectively. These results suggest that high fructose intake, in the form of added sugar, independently associates with higher BP levels among US adults without a history of hypertension. Comment in
Free PMC Article
http://jasn.asnjournals.org/cgi/pmidlookup?view=long&pmid=20595676
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/pmid/20595676/?tool=pubmed
99.190.133.143 (talk) 23:05, 1 November 2011 (UTC)
Jalal DI, Smits G, Johnson RJ, Chonchol M.
Increased fructose associates with elevated blood pressure.
J Am Soc Nephrol. 2010 Sep;21(9):1543-9. Epub 2010 Jul 1.
Free PMC Article
http://jasn.asnjournals.org/cgi/pmidlookup?view=long&pmid=20595676
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/pmid/20595676/?tool=pubmed
Abstract
The recent increase in fructose consumption in industrialized nations mirrors the rise in the prevalence of hypertension, but epidemiologic studies have inconsistently linked these observations. We investigated whether increased fructose intake from added sugars associates with an increased risk for higher BP levels in US adults without a history of hypertension. We conducted a cross-sectional analysis using the data collected from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES 2003 to 2006) involving 4528 adults without a history of hypertension. Median fructose intake was 74 g/d, corresponding to 2.5 sugary soft drinks each day. After adjustment for demographics; comorbidities; physical activity; total kilocalorie intake; and dietary confounders such as total carbohydrate, alcohol, salt, and vitamin C intake, an increased fructose intake of > or =74 g/d independently and significantly associated with higher odds of elevated BP levels: It led to a 26, 30, and 77% higher risk for BP cutoffs of > or =135/85, > or =140/90, and > or =160/100 mmHg, respectively. These results suggest that high fructose intake, in the form of added sugar, independently associates with higher BP levels among US adults without a history of hypertension. Comment in
Free PMC Article
http://jasn.asnjournals.org/cgi/pmidlookup?view=long&pmid=20595676
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/pmid/20595676/?tool=pubmed — Preceding unsigned comment added by 99.190.133.143 (talk) 23:12, 1 November 2011 (UTC)
Gout citation
"Gout" section: Today I added a citation for the non-cited mention of a "recent" British Medical Journal article linking fructose consumption with incidence of gout. By searching online, I found a 2008 BMJ study that fits nicely with the assertion made; then re-wrote the sentence to express more precisely the conclusion of this study, but I cannot say for certain whether I located the same study that the author of that sentence had in mind. Reverence Still (talk) 00:25, 5 December 2011 (UTC)
Health Effects Re Diabetics
The descriptions of effects of fructose upon diabetics, addressed briefly within a few different sub-sections of the "Health Effects" section, seem to have been written by multiple people of differing views. Which of course they were. Would a knowledgeable person please helpfully review and re-write these sub-sections to be more clear and consistent on the topic of fructose's effect on diabetics? Reverence Still (talk) 00:43, 5 December 2011 (UTC)
Potential Health Effects
Compared to sucrose
The claim that sucrose and high fructose corn syrup have similar physiological effects seems to be overstating the conclusion cited in the subsequent sentences. Melanson et. al found that HFCS and sucrose are similar in the short term but "Longer-term studies on connections between HFCS, potential mechanisms, and body weight have not been conducted". Hence, the statement in this section must have a smaller scope (i.e. the short term physiological effects of HFCS and sucrose appear to be similar. However, long term studies have yet to be conducted). — Preceding unsigned comment added by Austin.momii (talk • contribs) 01:50, 10 January 2012 (UTC)
Dispute over claims made in a reference
If a claim is made in the article and it's backed up by a reference and you don't like the claim then you need to find another reference that disputes the original reference. If you disagree with the reference you need to find something that contradicts it. Your opinion would not be a valid claim to contradict the reference. If you have a dispute with the authors of a study WP is not the place to hash out your disagreement. The claims made in the following paragraph are backed up by the reference:
- Fructose is a reducing sugar, as are all monosaccharides. The spontaneous chemical reaction of simple sugar molecules binding to proteins, known as glycation, is thought to be a significant cause of damage in diabetics. Fructose appears to be equivalent to glucose in this regard and so does not seem to be a better answer for diabetes for this reason alone, save for the smaller quantities required to achieve equivalent sweetness in some foods.[1]
Adding things to the claim that are not in the reference simply because you don't agree with the results of the study used in the reference is inappropriate. Find a study that contradicts what's in the paragraph but don't edit the paragraph by adding irrelevant claims. The reference that is used makes no mention of rats being used as test subjects therefore adding the claim that the effects described in the article were observed in rats is irrelevant. If you have another study that makes the same claim using a rat model then add it to the article but don't change the original claim in the paragraph. Dr. Morbius (talk) 19:55, 28 March 2012 (UTC)
- Title of the Levi and Werman study already used in the paragraph before my edits is: Long-Term Fructose Consumption Accelerates Glycation and Several Age-Related Variables in Male Rats.[1] Quoting from the paper, Discussion paragraph 4: This study demonstrates that long-term fructose feeding accelerates aging as expressed by changes in various age-related markers measured in collagen from skin and bones.
- Making interpretation about any fructose effect on human metabolism or skin/bone health is simply conjecture, so must be stated as such for the common lay reader of this article. The tone of this paragraph is that fructose consumption is linked to diabetes, which, by scientific evaluation, is preposterous and only preliminarily tested.
- The McPherson article was correctly cited as evidence for the potential -- but not proven -- effect on proteins, as that study was only an in vitro analysis of such effects, so is also preliminary and unsubstantiated for any interpretation about diabetes.
- I suggest you re-read the paragraph and its references, and, if still confused, submit the issue for dispute resolution.--Zefr (talk) 23:38, 28 March 2012 (UTC)
- The original edits that you did did not use that reference. The original claim that was there that used the Werman reference was about senescence not about glycation. You then edited the claim that was about glycation and misrepresented that it was about rats while using the Mcpherson reference. Dr. Morbius (talk) 19:01, 29 March 2012 (UTC)
References
- ^ McPherson, JD (1988). "Role of fructose in glycation and cross-linking of proteins. PMID 132203". Biochemistry. 27 (5): 1901–7. doi:10.1021/bi00406a016. PMID 3132203.
{{cite journal}}
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Fructans
Under Food Sources it states.... "Fructose exists in foods either as a free monosaccharide or bound to glucose as sucrose, a disaccharide"
What about when it exists as a fructan? According to Wikipedia a Fructan is is "a polymer of fructose molecules".
"Fructans with a short chain length are known as fructooligosaccharides, whereas longer chain fructans are termed inulins. Fructans occur in foods such as agave, artichokes, asparagus, leeks, garlic, onions (including spring onions), yacon, jícama, and wheat.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fructan http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fructooligosaccharide
CompassKT (talk) 18:48, 26 October 2012 (UTC)
Oranges
I'd be interested in seeing oranges or orange juice in the list. In fact, I think a juices list would be very useful. -Reticuli 65.29.194.159 (talk) 17:18, 31 March 2013 (UTC)
The UC Davis study
Interesting. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2673878/ -Reticuli 65.29.194.159 (talk) 17:41, 31 March 2013 (UTC)
"may promote overeating"
This is incorrect reasoning. If fructose does not stimulate satiety, the only thing that can be said is that it does not discourage overeating. There is no logic in the statement "fructose may not influence metabolic activity or blood flow in brain regions regulating satiety" that can lead to the conclusion that it "may promote overeating." A correctly-reasoned statement would be "may not discourage overeating." Put another way, there is nothing in the precedent statement that indicates that fructose may cause someone to eat more. It just may not cause them to eat less. 99.6.194.122 (talk) 22:29, 19 May 2013 (UTC)
The two statements are logically equivalent. You're just introducing a double negative.108.131.127.169 (talk) 16:25, 19 October 2015 (UTC)
Actually, they're not logically equivalent. It is true that "causes to eat more" entails "does not cause to eat less", but the converse is not true, since something might have neither effect, that is, might neither cause to eat more nor cause to eat less (and many things probably fall into that category, in fact). — Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.39.189.221 (talk) 01:09, 21 April 2017 (UTC)
Please add ball and stick diagram
It would be immensely helpful for me (and I'm sure other users) if someone could upload a ball and stick diagram in the infobox to the right. See Glucose or Aspartame as examples.
Thank you. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 66.201.44.132 (talk) 00:07, 16 August 2013 (UTC)
- Done. I did it a few months ago, but thought I'd reply for completion. That kiwi guy (talk) 09:53, 13 June 2014 (UTC)
table may be incorrect
The table "Carbohydrate content of commercial sweeteners" seems to be inconsistent. In some cases (e.g., granulated sugar) the sucrose column clearly includes the values from the fructose and glucose columns, and in other cases (e.g., HFCS) it clearly doesn't. This should be corrected, and it might also help clarify things to label the first two columns to clarify whether they're free vs. total fructose and glucose. Inhumandecency (talk) 18:30, 23 November 2013 (UTC)
Clarification of fructose absorption with/without presence of glucose
The article currently states: "When fructose is ingested as part of the disaccharide sucrose, absorption capacity is much higher because fructose exists in a 1:1 ratio with glucose. It appears that the GLUT5 transfer rate may be saturated at low levels, and absorption is increased through joint absorption with glucose." If the absorption were increased due to the 1:1 fructose to glucose ratio, then it would seem that fructose absorption would also increase if it were ingested in the form of high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) assuming it were a variety with 50% of each fructose and glucose. If the conclusion of the last sentence is true, then the section should be reworded so that it does not single out sucrose, i.e. it should state that both sucrose and HFCS increase fructose absorption. If this is not true, then the explanation "absorption capacity is much higher because fructose exists in a 1:1 ratio with glucose" should be changed. I do not have the background to confidently make the change. 66.91.252.195 (talk) 03:19, 26 April 2014 (UTC)
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Pronunciation
How is fructose pronounced? I've heard it mostly as /frook'tose/, although I've also heard it occasionally as /fruk'tose/. It would be nice to add the IPA pronunciation to the lede sentence. — Loadmaster (talk) 21:48, 10 February 2017 (UTC)
Fructose metabolism without oxygen
http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/04/20/524511231/researchers-find-yet-another-reason-why-naked-mole-rats-are-just-weird What is the pathway, it must be similar to the Cori cycle which can generate energy from glucose by converting it to lactic acid without oxygen. --Richard Arthur Norton (1958- ) (talk) 19:20, 20 April 2017 (UTC)
Food sources
Below Table 1 it reads: "The fructose/glucose ratio is calculated by dividing the sum of free fructose plus half sucrose by the sum of free glucose plus half sucrose."
So the ratio is always 1?
213.127.56.207 (talk) 14:54, 18 May 2018 (UTC)
Citation roughly contradicts the claim it was cited as support for.
This article stated that fructose "may" cause cardiovascular disease and diabetes, citing a journal article (Rippe, James M.; Angelopoulos, Theodore J. (2015-07-01). "Fructose-containing sugars and cardiovascular disease" (CVD). Advances in Nutrition (Bethesda, Md.). 6 (4): 430–439). In fact, that article found "levels within the normal range of human consumption are not uniquely related to CVD risk factors," noting only that triglycerides, which are linked to cardio-vascular disease and diabetes, "may rise ... when simple sugars exceed 20% of energy per day, particularly in hypercaloric settings." As cited, this Wikipedia article would imply that the source contributes to concerns of a possible link between normal consumption of fructose and diseases such as diabetes and CVD, when the opposite is true. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 205.175.220.10 (talk) 15:09, 31 May 2019 (UTC)
Mischaracterization of the "European Food Safety Authority" paper
The article says "An expert panel of the European Food Safety Authority concluded that fructose is preferred in food and beverage manufacturing to replace sucrose and glucose due to the lower effect of fructose on blood glucose levels following a meal."[1] However, that's not at all what the paper from EFSA says. This wording isn't supported by the EFSA paper, which is much more narrow.
The wording in the wikipedia entry suggests that fructose should be preferred in the preparation of foodstuffs because it lowers blood glucose levels after a meal. In contrast, EFSA paper is a narrow conclusion of a request to evaluate precise health claims about fructose. ESFA concludes that the precise wording "Consumption of fructose leads to a lower blood glucose rise than consumption of sucrose or glucose" is scientifically accurate, but does not then go on to recommend that foodstuffs be prepared with fructose instead of glucose or other sugars.
THE EFSA paper also very explicitly warns about the consequences of high fructose consumption: "The Panel notes that high intakes of fructose may lead to metabolic complications such as dyslipidaemia, insulin resistance and increased visceral adiposity.". The wording of the wikipedia article fails to mention such concerns and creates an impression that an expert government-level authority has blessed fructose as strictly better than other sugars, which is harmful to the general public as there is ample scientific evidence that fructose increases food consumption and body fat, through suppression of the satiety signal and other processes. See e.g. [2] for a review.
References
- ^ Malik, Vasanti S.; Hu, Frank B. (2015). "Fructose and Cardiometabolic Health: What the Evidence from Sugar-Sweetened Beverages Tells Us". Journal of the American College of Cardiology. 66 (14): 1615–1624. doi:10.1016/j.jacc.2015.08.025. ISSN 0735-1097. PMC 4592517. PMID 26429086.
- ^ Campbell, Eric; Schlappal, Anna; Geller, Eliana; Castonguay, Thomas W. (2014). "Fructose-Induced Hypertriglyceridemia: A Review": 197–205. doi:10.1016/B978-0-12-407869-7.00019-2.
{{cite journal}}
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(help)
- The section on Potential health effects explains the issue adequately: in isocaloric amounts, fructose is not an independent factor for weight gain or disease [refs 10, 54], but its excessive consumption – as for any sweetener – adds calories and promotes weight gain, which can be a risk factor for the diseases mentioned [refs 54-58]. The EFSA panel (article here) concluded in the abstract: (quote) "The Panel considers that in order to bear the claim, glucose or sucrose should be replaced by fructose in sugar sweetened foods or beverages. The target population is individuals who wish to reduce their post-prandial glycaemic responses," leading to its main conclusion (end of article): "The following wording reflects the scientific evidence: "Consumption of fructose leads to a lower blood glucose rise than consumption of sucrose or glucose. In order to bear the claim, glucose or sucrose should be replaced by fructose in sugar-sweetened foods or beverages. The target population is individuals who wish to reduce their post-prandial glycaemic responses." --Zefr (talk) 18:01, 19 January 2020 (UTC)
- Thank you for your reply! I think there might be a confusion about the role and purpose of the EFSA paper: it's not a recommendation about which sugars should be used in foodstuffs, but rather a decision about whether a specific marketing claim about food products is sufficiently grounded in science to allow food producers in the European Union to make it.
- In 2006, the European Parliament passed regulation 1924/2006 (https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=CELEX:32006R1924&from=en) imposing limits on health claims that food manufacturers may advertise in their products. The process for determining which claims are allowed is described in Commission Regulation 432/2012 (https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=CELEX:32012R0432&from=EN). It works as follows: the European Commission compiles a list of candidate claims, then it submits them to EFSA which provides an expert opinion on whether the claim is scientifically valid. Within the framework of this process, EFSA was asked whether the claim that "Consumption of foods containing fructose leads to a lower blood glucose rise compared to foods containing sucrose or glucose" is backed by science, which led to the paper we are discussing. EFSA agreed that this claim is scientifically verified but that "In order to bear the claim, glucose and/or sucrose should be replaced by fructose in sugar-sweetened foods or drinks so that the reduction in content of glucose and/or sucrose, in these foods or drinks, is at least 30 %." -- see the ANNEX in regulation 536/2013 of the European Union https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=CELEX:32013R0536&from=EN#d1e32-7-1, where this specific language is approved with said proviso.
- In other words, the EFSA paper is not a recommendation for fructose to substitute other sweeteners, but rather a very narrow opinion about whether a marketing claim on food products is sufficiently based on our scientific understanding to allow food producers to make it in the European Union.
- In light of this, I suggest changing the wording in the Wikipedia article to something like "An expert panel from the EFSA deemed that 'consumption of foods …' provided that in such products the content of other sugars is reduced by at least 30%"... though at that point I am not sure it is even worth mentioning this in the article.
- My own opinion is that the claim itself, while scientifically valid, is misleading. Yes, fructose raises blood glucose less, but this obscures the many adverse health effects of fructose found in the scientific literature. I think that's why EFSA felt compelled to add an important caveat in their paper, that "The Panel notes that high intakes of fructose may lead to metabolic complications such as dyslipidaemia, insulin resistance and increased visceral adiposity.".
- Whether or not fructose causes metabolic damage beyond its caloric value (e.g. whether "a calorie is a calorie" or not) is outside the scope of the current discussion point, so I will leave it there for now and possibly start a different (non-EFSA) topic on that.
- Thanks again for your diligence!