'Redo your pantry' is an important section in the linked article. My wife is really good about finding pointing out sugar in sauces that seem healthy [1], tomato sauce, catsup, etc., and finding sure free alternatives
The solution I‘ve found most effective is to cook everything from scratch, and not use any preprocessed foods. Once you start using healthy sauces, you open the door to the less healthy ones, and soon you‘ll end up mixing ketchup with mayonnaise :D
Recently I‘ve started making myself rice flakes with coconut milk, or a few steamed veggies (brokkoli, carrot strips) with some coconut milk and seasoning. Both are easily done within minutes, and free from artificial colors and flavors, and of course sugar. I basically throw chunks of brokkoli in a little bit of water, put the lid on and let it cook gently for 10m or so.. didn’t expect that to be so easy. Then add a few sips of coconut milk, salt and some fancy spices - done. We need self-made dishes to be simple, quick and tasty, or the convenience of preprocessed foods will catch up on us. Whenever I‘m hungry and in danger of making some fries or other abominations, I go for the rice flakes instead. Those take 5m to make, are cheap, and super tasty (ok I might have a coconut milk fetish).
If it's a popular sauce in America, it's almost sugary as a rule. BBQ sauce, maple syrup, salad dressing, tomato sauce. Mustard might be the one solid exception (?)
I don't know if this is because sugary sauces become popular, or because popular sauces were adulterated with sugar.
Mustard, mayonnaise, and chile-vinegar sauces like Tabasco or Frank's RedHot are the only sugar-free sauces I can think of at the moment.
Most everything else either has sugar or an artificial sweetener in it--or some back-door sugar, like raisin paste, or fruit juice concentrates.
It is likely because condiments came from preserved foods, and those generally require a high concentration of sugar or salt, or a low pH, in order to avoid spoilage. And some are concentrated from foods that are naturally sweet.
I think the sweetness was always valued in a sauce, and substituting the previous source of the sweetness with corn syrup or HFCS is a more recent trend, to cut costs. So it's the latter: popular sauces were adulterated with sugar.
Heinz mayonnaise, at least where I live (outside of the US) contains an ungodly amount of sugar, it is the second ingredient, and makes it properly disgusting.
Recently I‘ve started making myself rice flakes with coconut milk, or a few steamed veggies (brokkoli, carrot strips) with some coconut milk and seasoning. Both are easily done within minutes, and free from artificial colors and flavors, and of course sugar. I basically throw chunks of brokkoli in a little bit of water, put the lid on and let it cook gently for 10m or so.. didn’t expect that to be so easy. Then add a few sips of coconut milk, salt and some fancy spices - done. We need self-made dishes to be simple, quick and tasty, or the convenience of preprocessed foods will catch up on us. Whenever I‘m hungry and in danger of making some fries or other abominations, I go for the rice flakes instead. Those take 5m to make, are cheap, and super tasty (ok I might have a coconut milk fetish).