The Skinny On Net Carbs

Sharp-eyed shoppers may have noticed that many Atkins products have a different look these days. Atkins Advantage™ Bars, Atkins Endulge™ Bars, Bakery, Kitchen and other Atkins-branded products display a number in a circle on the front panel of the packaging. This number identifies the number of Net Carbs per serving.

Not All Carbs Act the Same Way

At Atkins Nutritionals, we specially formulate our products to taste great while minimizing the impact of carbohydrates on your blood sugar level. We do this by understanding that not all carbohydrates behave the same way in your body. While most carbs–sugar is the best example–are digested and turned into blood sugar, other carbs behave differently. Some are digested by your body but not turned into glucose and some carbs–such as fiber–are not digested at all and pass through your body as waste. (For more on the different kinds of carbs, see A Message from Atkins: All Carbohydrates Are Not Equal; for more on fiber, see Fiber: A Special Kind of Carbohydrate). Neither of these types of carbs produces a noted impact on blood sugar levels.

What Is in Atkins Products?

We use certain carbohydrates in Atkins products and avoid others. Instead of using sugar in any of its forms (glucose, fructose, lactose or maltose), we rely on sweeteners such as sucralose (marketed as Splenda®). We also use glycerine and sugar alcohols such as maltitol as sweeteners, as well as polydextrose, which is also a bulking agent and serves as a source of added fiber. Fiber, glycerine, maltitol and polydextrose are carbohydrates that have a minimal impact on blood sugar.

The Atkins Net Carbs Seal

We have created the Atkins Net Carbs Seal to list the number of carbs controlled carbers need to count. We’ve subtracted all carbohydrates such as fiber, glycerine and sugar alcohols, which either are not digested or are digested but do not impact blood sugar more than negligibly. While we list the percentage and number of grams of total carbohydrates on the Nutritional Facts Panel on the back of the label, the number of grams after subtracting fiber and sugar alcohols with a negligible impact on blood sugar appears in the circle, the Atkins Net Carbs Seal, on the front of the package.

Let’s take an Atkins Cookies ‘n Creme Advantage Bar as an example. Along with the ingredients, the Net Carbs Seal, shown above, states that individuals following Atkins or otherwise limiting consumption of carbs need count only 2 grams of carbs per bar.

Now take a look at the Nutritional Facts Panel below. You will see the following:

This is how the Net Carb figure is calculated: