Hidden Sugars in Everyday Foods
You stopped buying biscuits and fizzy drinks. But if you are still eating flavored yogurt, breakfast cereal, jarred pasta sauce or flavored oat milk daily, you may be consuming far more sugar than you realize. Many packaged foods marketed as healthy contain significant sugar under names that do not say sugar.
Why sugar hides in plain sight
Manufacturers can use any of approximately 60 names for sugar in an ingredient list, and ingredients are listed in descending order by weight. Splitting sugar into two or three named variants pushes each one lower in the list, making the product appear less sweet than it is. The nutrition label total sugars figure is the only reliable number.
Foods that commonly contain more sugar than expected
- Flavored yogurt: a small pot of strawberry or vanilla yogurt can contain 15 to 20 grams of added sugar, often more than a small chocolate bar.
- Breakfast cereals: granola, muesli and cereals marketed as natural or high-fibre typically contain 8 to 15 grams of sugar per 45-gram serving.
- Jarred pasta sauce and stir-fry sauce: many contain 5 to 10 grams per serving; sugar balances acidity and is inexpensive.
- Flavored plant milks: oat milk and almond milk in original or barista versions often contain 5 to 10 grams per 250 ml. Unsweetened versions contain almost none.
- Protein bars: frequently marketed as health foods but often containing 15 to 25 grams of sugar.
- Low-fat products: fat is often replaced with sugar to maintain palatability.
Reading the label correctly
Ignore the marketing claims on the front. Turn to the nutrition panel and look at the line that says "of which sugars" or "total sugars" per 100 g. Under 5 g per 100 g is low; above 22.5 g per 100 g is high. A serving of 100 g from a product scoring 22 g sugar per 100 g delivers 22 grams of sugar, more than half the World Health Organization daily limit for added sugars in adults.
Common names for sugar on ingredient lists
- Syrups: high-fructose corn syrup, rice syrup, glucose syrup, agave nectar, coconut nectar, maple syrup.
- Sugars: sucrose, fructose, dextrose, maltose, galactose.
- Other forms: dehydrated cane juice, concentrated fruit juice, caramel, molasses.
No Carbs helps you track and cut sugar and carb intake by building awareness of what is in the foods you eat regularly.
For what to replace sugar-heavy foods with, see what to eat instead of carbs.
Common questions
- What are hidden sugars?
- Hidden sugars are added sugars listed under names other than sugar on ingredient lists, such as dextrose, fructose, maltose, glucose syrup, agave nectar and rice syrup. They count toward your sugar intake exactly as table sugar does.
- Which everyday foods are highest in hidden sugars?
- Flavored yogurt, breakfast cereals including granola, jarred pasta and stir-fry sauces, flavored plant milks, protein bars and low-fat products are among the most common sources of unexpected sugar in everyday diets.
- How do I find hidden sugars on a food label?
- Look at the nutrition panel for the total sugars or "of which sugars" line per 100 g. Under 5 g per 100 g is low; above 22.5 g is high. Ingredient lists also reveal added sugars under approximately 60 different names.
- Is natural sugar the same as added sugar?
- For blood sugar impact, most natural and added sugars are metabolically similar. Fructose in whole fruit comes with fibre that slows absorption; fructose in syrup does not. WHO guidelines on daily sugar limits refer to sugars added during processing, not those found naturally in whole fruit.