The Effects of Sugar - Hidden in Your Food

Hidden in Your Food


Added sugar is hiding in 74% of packaged foods  

We tend to think that added sugar is mainly found in desserts like cookies and cakes, but it's also found in many savory foods, such as bread and pasta sauce. And some foods promoted as "natural" or "healthy" are laden with added sugars, compounding the confusion. In fact, manufacturers add sugar to 74% of packaged foods sold in supermarkets. So, even if you skip dessert, you may still be consuming more added sugar than is recommended.

 

How do I know if I'm eating added sugar?  

Added sugar is hiding in foods that many of us consider healthy, like yogurt and energy bars. It is also added to savory foods, such as ketchup, breads, salad dressing and pasta sauce.

The World Health Organisation requires food producers to list all ingredients in their foods. But added sugar comes in many forms – which is why it's so hard to find on the ingredients label.

There are at least 61 different names for sugar listed on food labels. These include common names, such as sucrose and high-fructose corn syrup, as well as barley malt, dextrose, maltose and rice syrup, among others.

While product labels list total sugar content, manufacturers are not required to say whether that total includes added sugar, which makes it difficult to know how much of the total comes from added sugar and how much is naturally occurring in ingredients such as fruit or milk. That makes it very difficult to account for how much added sugar we're consuming.

How much is ok?   

Daily Added Sugar Limits:
Women: 6 tsp. (25g)

Men: 9 tsp. (38g)
Children: 3-6 tsp. (12-25g)

Unlike salt and fats that are added to foods, nutrition labels don't provide you with a daily reference value for added sugar.

However, the World Health Organisation recommends no more than:

9 teaspoons (38 grams) of added sugar per day for men.

6 teaspoons (25 grams) per day for women.

The AHA limits for children vary depending on their age and caloric needs, but range between 3-6 teaspoons (12 - 25 grams) per day.

 Even "healthy" foods can be high in sugar
 With as many as 11 teaspoons (46.2 grams) of added sugar in some 12-oz. sodas, a single serving exceeds the (WHA) recommendation for men and is about twice the allowance for women and children. But sugar isn't only in beverages and sweet baked goods. Here are some healthy-looking items you might find in the supermarket that also have high sugar contents:

- One leading brand of yogurt contains 7 teaspoons (29 grams) of sugar per serving.
- A breakfast bar made with "real fruit" and "whole grains" lists 15 grams of sugar.
- A single cup of bran cereal with raisins, in a box advertising "no high-fructose corn syrup," contains 20 grams of sugar per serving.
- A cranberry/pomegranate juice product, also advertising "no high-fructose corn syrup" and "100% Vitamin C," contains 30 grams of added sugar per 8 oz. serving. Some of the sugar is naturally occurring, but some of it has been added.

Changing labels to help consumers
Australia’s consume 292kg of added sugar each year, on average.

Making healthy food decisions requires having complete information on the food label. When sugars are hidden unrecognizably in most packaged foods, it's a difficult choice to make.

To address this, the FDA is considering revising the current label design, including changing the way a serving size is measured and possibly adding a separate line item highlighting the amount of added sugar.

There is active discussion right now in public health circles about how to make nutrition labels easier to read and the need for clearer recommendations on how much added sugar is safe to consume. Stay tuned to SugarScience.org as we follow this discussion and interpret its impact for consumers.
 

High-Fructose Corn Syrup

(HFCS) A concentrated form of liquid sugar which may contain a wide range of fructose concentrations. Most commonly it contains either 42% or 55% fructose, but may contain up to 90% fructose.

Added sugar

Any sugar added in preparation of foods, either at the table, in the kitchen or in the processing plant. This may include sucrose, high fructose corn syrup and many others.

Sugars

Sugars are chemicals made of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen found which taste sweet and are found in food. They are an important part of what we eat and drink and of our bodies. On this site, sugar is used to mean simple sugars (monosaccharides) like fructose or glucose, and disaccharides like table sugar (sucrose). Sucrose is two simple sugars stuck together for example (see Table sugar). Sugars are a type of carbohydrate. Carbohydrates are energy sources for our bodies Sugars enter the blood stream very quickly after being eaten.

Sucrose

Also called table sugar. Your body breaks sucrose into glucose and fructose to use them as fuel.

Fructose

Syrup. A sugar that we eat. Also called fruit sugar. Most fructose comes in sucrose (table sugar, cane sugar, beet sugar), or from high-fructose corn

Facts

To make foods "low fat," many food companies replaced the fat with added sugar.

 

61 NAMES FOR SUGAR
   Agave nectar

 Barbados sugar

 Barley malt

 Barley malt syrup

 Beet sugar

 Brown sugar

 Buttered syrup

 Cane juice

 Cane juice crystals

 Cane sugar

 Caramel

 Carob syrup

 Castor sugar

 Coconut palm sugar

 Coconut sugar

 Confectioner's sugar

 Corn sweetener

 Corn syrup

 Corn syrup solids

 Date sugar

 Dehydrated cane juice

 Demerara sugar

 Dextrin

 Dextrose

 Evaporated cane juice

 Free-flowing brown sugars

 Fructose

 Fruit juice

 Fruit juice concentrate

 Glucose

 Glucose solids

 Golden sugar

 Golden syrup

 Grape sugar

  HFCS (High-Fructose Corn Syrup)

 Honey

 Icing sugar

 Invert sugar

 Malt syrup

 Maltodextrin

 Maltol

 Maltose

 Mannose

 Maple syrup

 Molasses

 Muscovado

 Palm sugar

 Panocha

 Powdered sugar

 Raw sugar

 Refiner's syrup

 Rice syrup

 Saccharose

 Sorghum Syrup

 Sucrose

 Sugar (granulated)

 Sweet Sorghum

 Syrup

 Treacle

 Turbinado sugar

 Yellow sugar

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NOTICE. This document provides general information only. Readers should seek independent professional advice from their general practitioner or dietician in relation to their own individual circumstances or condition before making any decisions based on the information in this document.