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Ever bought products that seem keto but in the end, they are not? This is such a bummer!
I am always attentive to read well the labels for hidden ingredients, but sometimes when in hurry I buy wrong products, believing they are keto.
Disclaimer: Even if now I follow a soft ketogenic diet, I still like to distinguish what is real keto from what is not. I am far from being the Keto Police. I believe everybody should include in their keto lifestyle all the products/ingredients they want.
Low carb Vs Keto diet
Keto is stricter than a low-carb diet. While on a low-carb diet, all the ingredients are fine, in the keto diet you have to avoid some products in order to keep the state of ketosis. Read How I test my ketones at home with a Ketone Meter.
Some of the products to avoid are:
- sugar
- some sweeteners (like Maltitol, dextrose, and maltodextrin)
- grains, starch, flour
Low carb diet is focused on choosing low-carb products.
The Keto diet is focused on choosing low-carb products and ingredients that won’t activate an insulin spike (high GI).
Products that seem keto but they are not
Read the products that seem keto but they are not, and what to eat or buy instead!
As a bonus, I will also suggest to you what to eat instead.
YSCO Vanilla Ice cream Light
At first, may seem that this ice cream is keto-friendly because the package says “Stevia” in big letters. The carbs for portions are very low, around 3. BUT reading the ingredients you will notice that this ice cream contains Maltitol, a sugar alcohol that kicks us out of ketosis.
At first, I didn’t notice it, because is written as E965, which is another name to call the Maltitol.
What to eat instead: Do your own ice cream with heavy cream. So far, in the Netherlands, there is no keto-friendly ice cream on the market.
Low-carb ice cream in the Netherlands:
Halo ice cream
Low-carb or veggie Pasta
On the market, there is a lot of low-carb pasta, but you have to be careful: many brands contain flour. Also, a few low-carb pasta are not really low in carbs as we imagine.
Also the veggie pasta that is now popular in the supermarket shelves, is not keto-friendly: flour is also on it, and carbs are pretty high as well.
What to eat instead: Shirataki, Palmini Pasta, Edamame pasta. For details, read the best keto pasta available in the Netherlands.
Atkins products
Atkins’s diet is very similar to keto because is also a very low-carb diet. To be on a state of ketosis we should also avoid some products like grain, starch, and some sugar alcohol.
Unfortunately, all the products of Atkins have some not allowed products in it, especially Maltitol.
What to eat instead: keto-approved bars. Read low-carb and keto bars in the Netherlands.
Callowfit sauces
Yes they are low-carb and sugar free. Yes they come in a lot of flavors, and you want to collect them all.
But they are not keto. They contain E1442 (modified starch) that is a carbohydrate.
In my opinion, some starch is not a biggie, especially because you won’t eat tons of sauce. I consume sauces very moderately, and also I am not a fan of them. I’d rather have a good Italian olive oil or some mayo.
What to eat instead: 0 carb mayo, do your own sauces mixing spices, oil and cream cheese.
Read also:
Low-carb Mayo in the Netherlands
Low-carb Ketchup in the Netherlands
Ciaocarb products
The Ciaocarb products are low-carb only because they are packaged in portions for aunts. They are so small portions, that of course are low-carb. For sure are not keto-friendly, because all the product contains flour.
What to eat instead: do your own keto bread.
Tasty Basic bread and crackers
Tasty Basic is very low-carb but is not keto. As you probably know from my IG (Instagram, not Glycemic index, lol), I occasionally used it, because is very easy to find. But it contained real flour.
What to eat instead: Make your own crackers, Smaakt Flaxseeds crackers, RAW Seeds Crackers.
Read also: Keto crackers in the Netherlands.
Candies with Maltitol
Many brands of sugar-free candies have Maltitol on them. This is the case with brands such as Food2smile and Debron.
I occasionally ate them in the past, because I really love candies. But, among all the no-keto ingredients, Maltitol is what I hate the most.
What to eat instead: Candies with no Maltitol, my favorite are Werther’s Original Classic suikervrij (available at AH).
Spreads with Maltitol
In the past, I bought so many spreads with Maltitol. Oh boy! They are cheap, and easy to find and the net carbs are not that many. Pity, they are not keto.
What to eat instead: Make your own chocolate spread, mixing hazelnut cream and chocolate powder.
How to avoid buying products that seem keto but they are not
To avoid buying fake keto products:
- read carefully the labels and calculate the net carbs
- try to learn by heart the codes of the sweeteners you should avoid
- if you are not sure of something, don’t buy it
- search in internet : is name of the product keto?
- with the mistakes you will improve – don’t worry we all buy and eat wrong products
I will keep this post updated, because for sure I will meet products that seems keto but they are not. And maybe I will buy them, eat them, be kicked off ketosis and be angry enough to report it to the world.
Ah, and for sure I missed something because I cannot know all the products, so feel free to comment with products that are not keto!
Read also:
My name is Simona, a keto enthusiast, based in the Netherlands.
I live with my husband, my cat Newton, and a fridge full of cheese.
You find me on Instagram, Pinterest, and sometimes on Facebook.
I also write a lot of keto recipes on my Italian blog keto-with-simona.
Check also:
Keto products review
Keto favorite products
“This post may contain affiliate links. This means I will get a commission if you purchase through my links, at no extra cost to you. All the opinions are my own. Read the full disclosure here.“
