‘Sugar-Free’ Food Items in Delhi: The Capitalist Story of Creating a Commodity

India has been one of the oldest and largest producers and consumers of sugar (O’Brien 2023). The collective Indian ‘sweet tooth’ is celebrated in the numerous sugary stuff that is available in the market – mithai (sweets), cakes, chocolates, candies, shakes, juices, syrups, ice creams, etc. Most auspicious and celebratory occasions are marked by eating something sweet. Therefore, perhaps it is not surprising that India is also seeing an unprecedented rise in the number of people, particularly youth with non-communicable diseases like diabetes (Anjana et. al. 2023). It is now called the diabetes capital of the world as almost 11.4% of the country’s population is diabetic. This has meant that the sweet market has been forced to explore alternatives to sugar to cater to diabetics as well as ‘health-conscious’ people. One such alternative, as I will show in this paper, is what in popular parlance is called ‘sugar-free’. As brands have been pushed to find alternatives to sugar, they have added items that are marketed as ‘sugar-free’. It means that these foods do not contain refined sugar but other sweetening elements like honey, jaggery or stevia. However, what remains questionable is if these ‘sugar-free’ foods are healthy in their true sense.

Through my research on ‘sugar-free’ foods in New Delhi, I will try to show how they have become commodities just like their sugary alternatives. Using an ethnographic approach, I interrogate the relationship between ‘sugar-free’ foods and their market value. The consumption of ‘sugar-free’ items also signifies a changing association with sugar and people’s understanding of healthy food. But these associations and perceptions are ultimately rooted in how the capitalist market operates, creating a distinct commodity – ‘sugar-free’ foods in this case.