In the supermarket aisle, dried fruits often look harmless. However, a glance at the ingredients list frequently reveals: added sugar, dextrose syrup, or sulfur dioxide as a preservative. Those who want to enjoy consciously should know what really matters when buying.
Why pay attention to the ingredients list at all?
Dried fruits are considered a healthy snack, but many industrially produced products are additionally sweetened to standardize sweetness and color. The result: a natural product becomes a snack with a sugar content that sometimes exceeds that of sweets. If you want to preserve the nutritional value of fresh fruit, you can't avoid taking a close look at the packaging.
The three most important criteria
1. No added sugar
Ideally, the ingredients list should contain only one word: the name of the fruit. Terms like "sugared," "treated with fruit sugar," or "candied" mean that additional sugar is involved, even if the packaging advertises "natural."
2. No sulfur dioxide (E220)
Many light-colored dried fruits such as apricots, mango, or papaya are sulfured to preserve their color and extend their shelf life. Sulfur dioxide can cause headaches or respiratory reactions in sensitive individuals. Untreated dried fruits can often be recognized by a slightly darker, more natural color.
3. Origin and processing
Gentle drying methods preserve more nutrients than high-temperature drying. Freeze-dried fruits also retain most of their vitamins and a crispy texture, while air-dried varieties are more intense in flavor and more compact.
How to recognize quality without studying the fine print?
A simple rule of thumb: the shorter the ingredients list, the better. A product consisting solely of the fruit itself, without any additives, is the safest choice. The consistency also provides clues: natural dried fruits are often less shiny and uniform than industrially treated ones.
Conclusion
By choosing dried fruits with a short ingredients list, free from sugar and sulfur dioxide, you get a product that comes closest to the nutritional value of fresh fruits. At dryfood.ch, we consistently focus on untreated, unsweetened dried fruits, such as our dried mango or dried papaya, completely without additives.
Want to taste the difference for yourself? Click here for our selection of unsweetened, untreated dried fruits.