Sugar vs. sweeteners: What's behind it and what does that mean for drinks?
Sweetness isn't just about taste. Especially in beverages, it determines calorie content, drinking experience, acidity balance, and how quickly sugar accumulates in everyday life. Therefore, it's worth taking a closer look at what sugar is, what sweeteners are, how both are used in soft drinks and similar products, and what "sugar-free" actually means in beverages.
What is sugar?
In nutritional terms, "sugar" primarily refers to simple carbohydrates such as glucose, fructose, or sucrose (table sugar). These sugars can occur naturally (e.g., in fruit or milk) or be added to foods and beverages. From an energy perspective, the point is clear: Digestible carbohydrates, including sugars, provide an average of around 4 kcal per gram (USDA, n.d.).
For health recommendations, the WHO concept of "free sugars" is particularly relevant. This includes not only added mono- and disaccharides, but also sugars that occur naturally in honey, syrups, fruit juices, and fruit juice concentrates (WHO, 2015). The WHO recommends limiting free sugars to less than 10% of daily energy intake; a further reduction to less than 5% (roughly 25 g/day for adults) may provide additional benefits (WHO, 2015).
Sugar plays a particularly important role in beverages because it is consumed in liquid form and therefore often provides less satiety than solid foods. This makes sugar-sweetened drinks one of the easiest ways to reduce free sugar intake.
The popular alternative: What are sweeteners?
Sweeteners (often called "artificial sweeteners" in everyday language, more technically: non-sugar sweeteners ) are substances that taste very sweet but provide little to no calories compared to sugar. They are used as food additives and require authorization in the EU; they must be declared in the list of ingredients (BfR, 2025). EFSA also explains that sweeteners are authorized as food additives and must be identified on the label by name or E-number (EFSA, 2026).
Sweeteners are subject to very strict testing in the EU. A safety principle, which can be thought of as a "safety framework," is the ADI value. ADI stands for Acceptable Daily Intake and refers to the amount that one could consume every day over a lifetime without posing a health risk. For aspartame, this value in the EU is 40 mg per kilogram of body weight per day. The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) concluded in its reassessment that as long as intake remains below this value, aspartame is considered safe (EFSA, 2013; EFSA, 2023).
However, this doesn't automatically mean that sweeteners are "the perfect solution" in the long run – especially when it comes to issues like weight loss or disease risk. The question here isn't so much "is it safe in general?" but rather "does it really help in the long term?" The WHO published a guideline on precisely this topic in 2023: It advises against using sweeteners specifically as a strategy for long-term weight loss or to reduce the risk of non-communicable diseases (WHO, 2023). This isn't an alarmist statement or a declaration that "sweeteners are dangerous," but rather a cautionary note: The available research doesn't clearly show that sweeteners produce the desired long-term effect, and some data are contradictory (WHO, 2023).
Where do the key differences lie?
Sugar and sweeteners both make a drink sweet, but they work quite differently.
Sugar always brings two things: sweetness and calories. That sounds logical, but it's particularly relevant for drinks because they're often consumed "on the side." A glass is quickly emptied, and depending on the recipe, several grams of sugar can accumulate quite rapidly. Furthermore, sugar has a second effect that many underestimate: it influences the texture. Sugar often makes a drink fuller, "smoother," and overall more rounded in flavor. You get the feeling that there's more "body" in the drink, not just sweetness.
Sweeteners also provide sweetness, but usually with very few or no calories. Therefore, they are often used when a beverage should taste sweet without the typical sugar content. However, the taste is not the same as sugar. Some sweeteners, for example, have a different sweetness profile: the sweetness comes on faster, lasts longer, or has a sharper, more pronounced effect. Furthermore, sweeteners don't automatically produce the same mouthfeel that sugar provides.
That's why the difference in beverages isn't just about calories, but also the drinking experience. When sugar is reduced or replaced, the recipe often needs to be adjusted to ensure it still tastes good. Manufacturers frequently use more acid (for freshness), carbonation (for a crisper texture), flavorings (for more depth), or sometimes even a slight bitter note to prevent the drink from tasting flat. In many cases, several sweeteners are combined to create a more well-rounded sweetness profile: one provides the initial sweetness, another ensures a longer-lasting pleasant taste without any single flavor becoming overpowering.
What does "sugar-free" officially mean?
“Sugar-free” is clearly defined in the EU as a nutritional claim: A product may be called “sugar-free” if it contains no more than 0.5 g of sugar per 100 ml (for beverages) (European Parliament & Council of the European Union, 2006).
raaaw is sugar-free
raaaw is officially sugar-free, meeting the common definition of "sugar-free," which stipulates that a beverage may contain only very small amounts of sugar. Our raaaw Organic Lemon contains 0.1 g of sugar per 100 ml, and raaaw Organic Pink Grapefruit contains 0.3 g of sugar per 100 ml. Both varieties are therefore clearly within the range considered sugar-free. The taste is still there: lemony and refreshing, just without any significant amount of sugar.
Precisely because many people unconsciously increase their sugar intake through beverages (soda, iced tea, juices, spritzers), a sugar-free drink is a simple alternative: You don't have to "leave anything out," but simply replace the situation—after-work drink, mealtime drink, on-the-go—with something refreshing but sugar-free. Furthermore, with raaaw, the sweetness doesn't come from sugar; the focus is on the fruit, the carbonation, and a clear, fresh taste—"clean & crisp" instead of "sweet & heavy."
United States Department of Agriculture. (n.d.). Food and Nutrition Information Center: Calories per gram of macronutrients.
World Health Organization. (2015). Guideline: WHO calls on countries to reduce sugar intake among adults and children.
Federal Institute for Risk Assessment. (2025). Sweeteners in food – Selected questions and answers.
European Food Safety Authority. (2026). Sweeteners.
European Food Safety Authority. (2013). Scientific Opinion on the re-evaluation of aspartame.
European Food Safety Authority. (n.d.). Aspartame
World Health Organization. (2023). Guideline: Use of non-sugar sweeteners.
