since a trip to Italy I have been obsessed with vinegar and oil on my salads. I use a bottle store brand vinegar that has a spray top since I tend to overpour without it. Since I've been low carbing again, my tastebuds have been sensing a sweetness to my vinegar. When i read the ingredients, it has concentrated grape must in it which translates to 3 g carb (sugar) per T. What gives? has anyone else experienced this? i thought vinegar was vinegar. and isn't 3g of sugar per T a lot? I am truly gobsmacked and can't wait to go back to the store tomorrow and read vinegar labels.

I truly had NO idea. Generally, I am a reader of labels and consider myself a savvy shopper but this is as shocking to me as when I discovered that they put sugar in peanut butter. sometimes, i swear they're out to get you.

Life is way too short to worry about sugar in balsamic i.m.o.

I think it's fanastic stuff. I use a couple of teaspoons a day on my salad and I am done.

I have just transitted Europe on a journey to the far East and bought a couple of bottles of the real stuff. Several hundred dollars for not very much but can't wait to try it when I am back home. Probably on Thanksgiving.

Can't recall meeting a person who got fat "eating too much balsamic vinegar..."

@Jerseygirl: Couldn't agree with you more. Please read or watch Dr. robert Lustig. He has an inciteful video on YouTube.
I see from your bio that you're from Pittsburgh. I am, too although I left many years ago. However, I get back several times a year to visit OLD friends. You never get Pittsburgh out of your system, do you?
@Ian, I think you're being a tad dismissive about added sugar to our foodstuffs. While my hair isn't on fire about the issue, I do think it's a matter of concern. I took a 5 minute tour of my kitchen this morning. The sugared PB and the Vinegar are gone as is the sugared breakfast sausage brand that I used to buy. But, there was added sugar in the mustard, mayo, hot dog relish, canned chili, taco seasoning, cocktail (ketchup?), and tartar sauce. As I said it was a cursory search.
While no one has probably never od'd on balsamic vinegar, when is enough sugar enough? When is it too much? When does it start doing real harm?

The sugar in balsamic vinegar is from the grapes it is made from, not added sugar. That is a big difference. I love balsamic vinegar for salad and on strawberries. It's worth every carb because it takes so little for the taste to come through.

There are many kinds of vinegar - apple, white (actually made from wheat), wine, balsamic, rice to name just a few.

Always read the label before buying a new product!

Well, I am at a hotel an an airport in Germany and there are two things on my shopping list before I take my flight back to DC tomorrow: canned baby squid and more balsamic vinegar. Both awesome diet foods that happen to be pretty good for you too.

At $90 for 3 ounces, it's gotta be the most expensive way to get fat! Let's just say I'm not that worried about this one.

Agree with this 100%! It would be helpful if labels gave more info re sugar, such as how much ADDED sugar. I've read that sugar in fruit occurs in a matrix of fiber so its fate in our digestive tracts & bloodstreams is different than that of refined sugars that are added during manufacture.

That said, I'm curious about balsamic vinegar's sugar....Isn't it what is left over after fermentation process that makes wine? in that case, there might be free glucose floating around. Guess it's time to go to a local winery and ask the chemists

fwiw, Ideal Protein, a VLC diet restricts to only apple cider vinegar during weight loss phase because of the carb issue.

I ended up buying Paul Newman's Olive Oil and vinegar salad dressing. there is no sugar in it. While I have quite a sweet tooth, there are foods that I dislike if they taste sweet to me. Balsamic vinegar on my salad, for instance. Peanut butter is another one, as is, bottled spaghetti sauce. And, for the most part, I am talking about added sugar. I stopped using a breakfast sausage because it had sugar in it. That was a strange discovery!

PS: I don't know anything about the Ideal Protein VLC diet. If anyone cares to enlighten me or can send me to a website, I would much appreciate the help and info.

Balsamic V- Great news about the sugar. Thanks

I would never let anyone take my balsamic vinegar away from me. It made me not abhor brussel sprouts as an adult. For that, I believe it deserves a medal.