Most people know that sweets, soft drinks and desserts contain sugar. What surprises many is how much sugar is added to foods that do not taste sweet: bread, pasta sauce, ketchup, flavoured yoghurt, breakfast cereal, “healthy” granola bars, salad dressings and packaged soups. These are the hidden sugars. Spotting them on labels is a practical skill that can change your diet without changing a single recipe.
Why Added Sugars Matter
The WHO recommends that free sugars provide less than 10 percent of total energy intake, with a further reduction to below 5 percent (about 25 g or 6 teaspoons a day for an adult) offering additional health benefits. Free sugars include sugars added by manufacturers, cooks or consumers, plus sugars naturally present in honey, syrups, fruit juices and juice concentrates. They do not include sugars in intact whole fruit, vegetables or plain milk. The American Heart Association suggests an even tighter limit: no more than about 36 g (9 teaspoons) a day for men and 25 g (6 teaspoons) for women.
High intakes of added sugar, particularly from sugar-sweetened beverages, are linked to weight gain, type 2 diabetes, fatty liver disease, tooth decay and increased cardiovascular risk. Because sugary foods deliver calories without much nutrition and do not fill us as well as solid foods, they make it easy to overeat.
Total Sugars vs Added Sugars
Nutrition labels vary by country:
- “Total sugars” includes naturally occurring sugars (lactose in milk, fructose in fruit) and added sugars.
- “Added sugars” is listed separately on US labels (since 2020) and on some other labels. India’s FSSAI regulations require declaration of total sugars and added sugars on labels for packaged foods, and ongoing reforms are expanding front-of-pack labelling.
If a label gives only total sugars, you can estimate added sugar by checking the ingredient list. For plain milk or plain yoghurt, a few grams of sugar per 100 g is natural lactose. For fruit juice, the sugars are natural but are treated as free sugars because the fibre is removed.
Reading the Nutrition Facts Panel
- Check the serving size first. All numbers refer to it. Many packs contain two or more servings.
- Look at “sugars” and “added sugars” per 100 g and per serving. A rough guide for per 100 g: more than 22.5 g of total sugar is high; 5 g or less is low (UK front-of-pack traffic-light standards). For drinks, more than 11.25 g per 100 ml is high.
- Convert grams to teaspoons: 4 g of sugar is approximately 1 teaspoon. A 330 ml cola with 35 g of sugar contains about 9 teaspoons.
- Compare similar products per 100 g, not per serving, since serving sizes differ between brands.
Spotting Sugar in the Ingredient List
Ingredients are listed in descending order by weight. Sugar appears under more than 60 different names. Common aliases:
| Category | Examples of names |
|---|---|
| Everyday sugars | Sugar, cane sugar, brown sugar, raw sugar, powdered sugar, icing sugar, jaggery (gur), khandsari, demerara, turbinado |
| Syrups | High-fructose corn syrup, corn syrup, glucose syrup, liquid glucose, maple syrup, golden syrup, rice syrup, malt syrup, agave nectar, invert sugar syrup, date syrup |
| Words ending in “-ose” | Glucose, fructose, dextrose, sucrose, maltose, lactose, galactose |
| Concentrates and others | Fruit juice concentrate, evaporated cane juice, honey, molasses, maltodextrin (rapidly digested starch), barley malt extract, caramel |
Watch for multiple sugar types in one product. A manufacturer may use sugar, glucose syrup and honey, so no single one appears first, but together they dominate. If three or more sugar-type ingredients appear, the product is likely heavily sweetened.
Common Hiding Places
| Food | Typical added sugar | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Flavoured yoghurt (150 g) | 10 to 20 g | Plain curd has only natural lactose (about 5 to 7 g) |
| Breakfast cereals and muesli (40 g) | 5 to 15 g | Some “healthy” granolas are 20 to 30 percent sugar |
| Fruit juice or “nectar” (200 ml) | 18 to 25 g | No fibre; juice drinks often add extra sugar |
| Energy and sports drinks (500 ml) | 25 to 35 g | Useful only for prolonged intense exercise |
| Tomato ketchup (1 tablespoon) | About 4 g | Many sauces are about 20 to 25 percent sugar |
| Pasta sauce, curry pastes and ready cooking sauces | 2 to 10 g per serving | Check the label |
| Packaged bread | 1 to 4 g per slice | Sugar often used for softness and browning |
| Salad dressings, mayonnaise | 1 to 5 g per tablespoon | Low-fat versions often add sugar to compensate |
| Protein bars and “health” bars | 8 to 25 g | Some are candy bars in disguise |
| Flavoured milk, malted drinks and instant mixes | 12 to 25 g per glass | Check serving suggestions |
| Instant oats, flavoured oatmeal sachets | 5 to 15 g | Plain oats have none |
| Packaged soups, instant noodle seasoning | 2 to 8 g | Sugar is often a flavour enhancer |
| Biscuits and “digestive” or “multigrain” cookies | 15 to 30 g per 100 g | Whole wheat does not mean low sugar |
| Pickles, chutneys, jams | Variable, often 30 to 60 g per 100 g | Used as preservative and sweetener |
Figures are approximate and vary widely; always read the actual label.
Marketing Claims That Mislead
- “No added sugar”: may still contain high levels from fruit juice concentrates, which count as free sugars in WHO terms.
- “Natural sugar”, “made with honey”, “jaggery sweetened” or “organic cane sugar”: nutritionally, these are still added sugars. Honey and jaggery contain trace minerals but not in significant quantities when eaten in small amounts.
- “Sugar-free”: usually means artificial or low-calorie sweeteners; check for sugar alcohols such as sorbitol, maltitol and xylitol, which can cause digestive upset in large amounts.
- “Low fat” or “fat-free”: often compensated with extra sugar for taste and texture.
- “Healthy”, “wholesome”, “multigrain”, “high protein”: not regulated to mean low sugar.
- “Lightly sweetened”: no standard definition.
Sweeteners: A Brief Note
Non-sugar sweeteners (aspartame, sucralose, stevia, acesulfame K) add sweetness without calories. The WHO’s 2023 guideline advises against using them as a means of weight control, citing evidence from long-term studies that benefits are limited and may be associated with a slightly increased risk of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease, though the evidence is observational. Using them occasionally to replace sugary drinks is a reasonable harm-reduction step, but the goal should be to recalibrate taste preferences over time.
Strategies to Cut Down on Hidden Sugars
- Choose plain base foods (plain curd, oats, nuts, whole fruit) and add your own sweetness in small amounts.
- Replace sugary drinks with water, plain or soda water with lemon, unsweetened tea or coffee, buttermilk or coconut water.
- Cook from scratch where possible; make your own sauces and dressings.
- Dilute gradually: reduce sugar in tea or coffee by a quarter spoon every week; taste buds adapt in a few weeks.
- Read labels for packaged items you use daily; habits matter more than occasional treats.
- Be mindful of liquid sugar, which does not satisfy hunger.
- Don’t swap sugar for “healthier” sugars; reduce the total sweetness.
- Be sceptical of kids’ products, which are often higher in sugar than adult equivalents.
Common Misconceptions
- “Fruit sugar is as bad as added sugar.” Whole fruit contains fibre, water and micronutrients, and its consumption is associated with better health.
- “Brown sugar, jaggery and honey are healthy substitutes.” They are mostly sugar and should be limited similarly.
- “I don’t eat sweets, so I’m fine.” Savoury and “healthy” foods can contribute a lot.
- “Sugar-free means calorie-free or healthy.” Not necessarily.
Summary
Added sugars hide in many everyday foods under dozens of names. Learning to read the serving size, compare per 100 g, check “added sugars” and scan ingredient lists lets you control intake without giving up convenience. Small shifts, such as plain yoghurt over flavoured, whole fruit over juice and water over soft drinks, add up to a big reduction.
References and Further Reading
- WHO. Guideline: Sugars intake for adults and children (2015); Use of non-sugar sweeteners (2023).
- American Heart Association. Added sugars scientific statement (Johnson RK, et al., Circulation, 2009).
- US FDA. How to understand and use the Nutrition Facts label.
- FSSAI. Labelling and display regulations; ICMR-NIN. Dietary Guidelines for Indians.
- Malik VS, Hu FB. The role of sugar-sweetened beverages in the global epidemics of obesity and chronic diseases. Nature Reviews Endocrinology, 2022.
This article is educational and not personalised dietary advice.