Jeffrey Salazar
Sugar is a key component of many diets, and it's important to understand how much sugar you're consuming. Sugar is found naturally in milk, fruit and vegetables, but it's also added to many foods and drinks. Nutrition labels on food packaging can help you to understand how much sugar is in a product, and how many calories that sugar contains. The Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommends that less than 10% of daily calories come from added sugars, while the UK's NHS recommends less than 5%.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Recommended daily sugar intake (US) | 50 g of sugar (200 calories, 12.5 tsp) |
| Recommended daily sugar intake (UK) | 30 g of sugar (120 calories, 7 sugar cubes) |
| Sugar content of a can of Coke | 140 calories from sugar |
| Sugar content of a Snickers bar | 120 calories from sugar |
| Added sugars as a percentage of total calories in the Healthy U.S.-Style Dietary Pattern | 2% |
| Foods considered high in sugar in the UK | 22.5 g of total sugar or more per 100-g serving |
| Foods considered high in sugar in the US | 20% or more of the DV |
| Foods considered low in sugar in the UK | 5 g or less of total sugar per 100-g serving |
| Foods considered low in sugar in the US | 5% or less of the DV |
| Calories in sugar | 4 calories per gram |
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What You'll Learn
- The UK's NHS recommends adults consume less than 30g of free sugars daily, or 5% of total calories
- The Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommends that less than 10% of daily calories come from added sugars
- Nutrition experts in the UK consider foods with 22.5 g of total sugar or more per 100-g serving to be high in sugar
- The United States considers foods high in added sugar if they have 20% or more of the DV
- Sugar has many other names, including high fructose corn syrup, molasses, cane sugar, corn sweetener, and raw sugar
The UK's NHS recommends adults consume less than 30g of free sugars daily, or 5% of total calories
The UK's NHS recommends that adults consume less than 30g of free sugars daily, or 5% of total calories. This is because regularly eating added sugars may increase your risk of developing chronic health conditions.
Free sugars are those added to food or drinks, and those found naturally in honey, syrups, and unsweetened fruit and vegetable juices, smoothies and purées. This does not include sugar found naturally in milk, fruit and vegetables.
In the United Kingdom, nutrition experts consider foods with 22.5 g of total sugar or more per 100-g serving to be high in sugar, while foods with 5 g or less are low. In the United States, experts consider foods high in added sugar if they have 20% or more of the DV, or low in added sugar if they have 5% or less.
To determine if a packaged food contains added sugars and how much, read the Nutrition Facts panel. Look for “Added Sugars” under “Total Sugars”. There are four calories in one gram. So, if a product has 15 grams of sugar per serving, that’s 60 calories from the sugar, not counting the other ingredients. If there is no Nutrition Facts panel, look at the list of ingredients. Sugar has many other names. Besides those ending in “ose,” such as maltose or sucrose, other names for sugar include high fructose corn syrup, molasses, cane sugar, corn sweetener, raw sugar, syrup, honey or fruit juice concentrates.
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The Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommends that less than 10% of daily calories come from added sugars
The Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommend that less than 10% of daily calories come from added sugars. This is based on food pattern modelling, which is a tool used to figure out how to meet all of your food group recommendations within calorie needs. The 10% target is an attempt to help individuals move towards healthy eating patterns while staying within their calorie needs.
Added sugars can help with preservation and contribute to functional attributes such as viscosity, texture, body, colour and browning capability. They can also help improve the palatability of some nutrient-dense foods. However, regularly eating added sugars may increase your risk of developing chronic health conditions.
In the United States, experts consider foods high in added sugar if they have 20% or more of the DV, or low in added sugar if they have 5% or less. To determine if a packaged food contains added sugars and how much, read the Nutrition Facts panel. Look for 'Added Sugars' under 'Total Sugars'. There are four calories in one gram. So, if a product has 15 grams of sugar per serving, that’s 60 calories from the sugar, not counting the other ingredients. If there is no Nutrition Facts panel, look at the list of ingredients. Sugar has many other names. Besides those ending in 'ose', such as maltose or sucrose, other names for sugar include high fructose corn syrup, molasses, cane sugar, corn sweetener, raw sugar, syrup, honey or fruit juice concentrates.
It's important to note that some other healthcare organisations and researchers consider these targets too high. For instance, the United Kingdom's NHS recommends adults consume less than 30g (120 calories) of free sugars daily, or 5% of total calories.
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Nutrition experts in the UK consider foods with 22.5 g of total sugar or more per 100-g serving to be high in sugar
The NHS recommends that adults consume less than 30 g (120 calories) of free sugars daily, or 5% of total calories. This is equivalent to roughly seven sugar cubes. To put that into perspective, one 12-ounce (355-mL) can of Coke contains 140 calories from sugar, while a regular-sized Snickers bar contains 120 calories from sugar.
The Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommends that less than 10% of daily calories come from added sugars. If you eat the average 2,000-calorie diet per day, this equals 50 g of sugar (200 calories, 12.5 tsp). However, it’s important to note that some other healthcare organisations and researchers consider these targets too high.
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The United States considers foods high in added sugar if they have 20% or more of the DV
In the United States, experts consider foods high in added sugar if they have 20% or more of the daily value (DV). This is based on the total calories in the food. The Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommend that less than 10% of daily calories come from added sugars. This is equivalent to 50g of sugar, or 200 calories, on a 2,000-calorie diet.
Added sugars are different from natural sugars found in milk, fruit and vegetables, which do not count as free sugars. The government recommends that free sugars should not make up more than 5% of the energy (calories) you get from food and drink each day. This is equivalent to 30g of free sugars, or 120 calories.
Added sugars can appear under many different names in the ingredients list of a product. These include high fructose corn syrup, molasses, cane sugar, corn sweetener, raw sugar, syrup, honey or fruit juice concentrates. To determine if a packaged food contains added sugars, you can read the Nutrition Facts panel.
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Sugar has many other names, including high fructose corn syrup, molasses, cane sugar, corn sweetener, and raw sugar
Sugar is added to many foods and drinks, and it can be difficult to keep track of how much you're consuming. The Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommend that less than 10% of daily calories come from added sugars, while the UK's NHS recommends less than 5%.
Sugar is treated the same way by your body, no matter what it's called. The American Heart Association recommends that women consume no more than 6 teaspoons of added sugar daily, and 9 teaspoons for men. This can quickly add up, so it's important to be aware of the different names sugar can go by when reading nutrition labels.
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Frequently asked questions
The Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommends that less than 10% of daily calories come from added sugars. This is equivalent to 50g of sugar, or 200 calories. The United Kingdom's NHS recommends adults consume less than 30g of free sugars daily, or 5% of total calories.
Added sugars are sugars added to food or drinks, and sugars found naturally in honey, syrups, and unsweetened fruit and vegetable juices, smoothies and purées. Sugar found naturally in milk, fruit and vegetables does not count as free sugars.
If a food comes in a package, you can read the Nutrition Facts panel. Look for 'Added Sugars' under 'Total Sugars'. If there is no Nutrition Facts panel, look at the list of ingredients. Sugar has many other names, including those ending in 'ose', such as maltose or sucrose, as well as high fructose corn syrup, molasses, cane sugar, corn sweetener, raw sugar, syrup, honey or fruit juice concentrates.
There are four calories in one gram of sugar.
