Finding Added Sugars in Foods

Unfortunately, you can’t tell easily by looking at the nutrition facts panel of a food if it contains added sugars. The line for “sugars” includes both added and natural sugars. Naturally occurring sugars are found in milk (lactose) and fruit (fructose). Any product that contains milk (such as yogurt, milk or cream) or fruit (fresh, dried) contains some natural sugars.

Reading the ingredient list on a processed food’s label can tell you
if the product contains added sugars, just not the exact amount if the product also contains natural sugars.

Names for added sugars on labels include:

Brown sugar

Corn sweetener

Corn syrup

Fruit juice concentrates

High-fructose corn syrup

Honey

Invert sugar

Malt sugar

Molasses

Raw sugar

Sugar

Sugar molecules ending in “ose” (dextrose, fructose, glucose, lactose, maltose, sucrose)

Syrup


Furthermore, some products include terms related to sugars. Here are some common terms and their meanings:

Sugar-Free – less than 0.5 g of sugar per serving

Reduced Sugar or Less Sugar – at least 25 percent less sugars per serving compared to a standard serving size of the traditional variety

No Added Sugars or Without Added Sugars – no sugars or sugar-containing ingredient such as juice or dry fruit is added during processing

Low Sugar – not defined or allowed as a claim on food labels


Although you can’t isolate the calories per serving from added sugars with the information on a nutrition label, it may be helpful to calculate the calories per serving from total sugars (added sugars and naturally occurring sugars). To do this, multiply the grams of sugar by 4 (there are 4 calories per 1 gram of sugar). For example, a product containing 15 g of sugar has 60 calories from sugar per serving.

Keep in mind that if the product has no fruit or milk products in the ingredients, all of the sugars in the food are from added sugars. If the product contains fruit or milk products, the total sugar per serving listed on the label will include added and naturally occurring sugars. Check here for more information about reading food labels.

* Note: This information has been taken from The American Heart Association.