Articles · Nutrients
Hidden sugar: where it hides and how much is too much
The difference between the sugar in an apple and the sugar in a cola, how to spot sugar's many names on a label, and an easy way to cut back without missing it.
· 4 min read
Quick question: which has more sugar, a bowl of breakfast cereal, a tablespoon of ketchup, or a small glass of orange juice? The answer may surprise you, and it shows why sugar is easier to eat than to notice.
Not all sugar counts the same
The World Health Organization separates two kinds:
- Free sugars: sugars added to food and drink by manufacturers, cooks or you, plus the sugar in honey, syrups and fruit juice.
- Sugars inside whole foods: in whole fruit, vegetables and plain milk. These come packed with fibre, water or protein, and aren't the ones to worry about.
Its advice: keep free sugars below 10% of the day's energy, and ideally below 5%. For an adult eating about 2,000 kcal, 5% is roughly 25 g, or six teaspoons.
Think about it: How many teaspoons of sugar do you think you ate yesterday, counting the ones you didn't add yourself?
Where does it hide?
Some everyday amounts:
- A 330 ml can of cola: about 35 g, almost nine teaspoons, more than the whole ideal daily amount in one go.
- A 250 ml glass of orange juice: about 20 g, and all of it counts as free sugar.
- A flavoured yogurt: often 12–17 g a pot, partly natural milk sugar, partly added.
- A bowl of breakfast cereal: from about 3 g to 15 g, depending on the cereal.
- A tablespoon of ketchup: about 4 g, a whole teaspoon.
Sweet drinks are the biggest single source for many people, because liquid sugar doesn't fill you up the way food does.
What's the harm?
Free sugars feed the bacteria that cause tooth decay. They also add calories without filling you up. A review of trials found that people who cut down on sugars lost a little weight (just under a kilo on average), and those who ate more gained a little, while swapping sugar for the same calories from other carbohydrates made no difference. So the problem is mainly the extra energy. In the same review, people who drank the most sugary drinks were more likely to be overweight.
Still Life with Sweets and Pottery, Juan van der Hamen y León, 1627, National Gallery of Art, Washington. Sweets, candied fruit and fine pottery laid out on stone ledges in Madrid, 1627. Sugar was then a costly luxury, worth showing off in a painting. Today it's cheap, and it's in almost everything. CC0 · Wikimedia CommonsReading a label
- Look at "of which sugars" per 100 g. In the UK, more than 22.5 g is high, and 5 g or less is low.
- Read the ingredients, which are listed by weight. Sugar has many names: glucose, fructose, sucrose, dextrose, maltose, corn syrup, glucose-fructose syrup, honey, agave, molasses, fruit juice concentrate.
- Watch "low-fat" products, where sugar sometimes replaces the fat.
Try this: Swap one sweet drink a day for water, sparkling water with a slice of lemon, or tea. It's the single change that cuts the most sugar for most people.
Think about it: Could you halve the sugar in your coffee or tea this week, and then halve it again next month? Taste adjusts more quickly than you'd think.
Quick quiz
Is the sugar in a whole apple a "free sugar"?
No. Sugars inside whole fruit, vegetables and plain milk aren't free sugars. Fruit juice, honey and syrups are.
About how much sugar is in a 330 ml can of cola?
About 35 g, almost nine teaspoons: more than the WHO's ideal daily limit of about 25 g.
On a UK label, how much sugar per 100 g counts as "high"?
More than 22.5 g. Five grams or less counts as "low".
Sources
General information, not medical advice. If you have a health condition, are pregnant or take medication, ask a doctor or dietitian what is right for you.