Finding the Hidden Sugar in the Foods You Eat

Are you skipping cookies, cake or other sweet treats to reduce your sugar intake? Give yourself an A for effort, but you’re probably still eating more sugar than you realize. The average American eats 22 teaspoons of added sugar per day, according to the American Heart Association. You’re likely not adding that much sugar to food yourself, so could you really be eating that much? Well, yes, says Erin Gager, R.D., L.D.N., a dietitian at The Johns Hopkins Hospital, because sugar is in a lot more foods than you may think.

This extra sugar may be adding to your waistline as well as putting your heart at risk. Research shows that excess sugar consumption can be associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease. The American Heart Association recommends limiting added sugar consumption to 25 grams (about six teaspoons) per day for women and 36 grams (nine teaspoons) per day for men. Knowing where sugar may be hiding can help you meet these goals and beat added sugar at its game of hide and seek.

Know the Names for Sugar

The nutrition facts label is required to inform you how much sugar is in a food. However, the label does not separate the amounts of naturally occurring sugar from added sugar, Gager explains. Sugar is found naturally in many nutritious foods, such as fruits and vegetables. But, you have to be a bit more savvy with locating foods that contain added sugar. There are more than 60 names for added sugar.

To identify added sugars, look at the ingredients list. Some major clues that an ingredient is an added sugar include:

• it has syrup (examples: corn syrup, rice syrup)
• the word ends in “ose” (examples: fructose, sucrose, maltose, dextrose)
• “sugar” is in the name (examples: raw sugar, cane sugar, brown sugar, confectionary sugar)

Other examples of added sugar include fruit nectars, concentrates of juices, honey, agave and molasses.

4 Foods With Hidden Sugar

Most people are able to identify desserts and candy as having added sugar, but what about less obvious sources? Some foods that most people would consider “healthy” may actually have a lot of added sugar in them, such as: