A Working Checklist for Added Sugar

Sugars added to food during manufacture or cooking, plus those naturally present in honey, syrups and fruit juice. Free sugars contribute energy without nutrients and are the principal dietary cause of tooth decay, and UK intakes run at roughly double the recommendation.

Key takeaways

• UK recommendation, adults: no more than 30g of free sugars a day
• Children aged 7-10: no more than 24g a day
• Most useful single change: Read the first three ingredients, which are ordered by weight.
• Commonest mistake: Reading "no added sugar" as meaning low sugar; fruit concentrates still count.
• See a doctor if any of the signs under "When to speak to a doctor" below apply to you.

Do

• Read the first three ingredients, which are ordered by weight
• Treat drinks as the first target; they are the largest single source for many people
• Swap flavoured yoghurt for plain with your own fruit
• Use the per-100g column to compare products rather than per-portion

Do not

• Reading "no added sugar" as meaning low sugar; fruit concentrates still count
• Replacing sugar with large amounts of refined starch and assuming it is better
• Fruit juice as a free alternative to whole fruit

The numbers behind the list

Here are the figures the checklist is drawn from.

If you change one thing

Read the first three ingredients, which are ordered by weight. That one first, and the others when you get to them.

Where to go next

• Added Sugar: What the Evidence Actually Says
• What Added Sugar Is, and Why It Matters
• Added Sugar — the reference entry
• Saturated Fat: Sorting the Evidence From the Noise
• What the Guidance Really Says About Fruit and Vegetables

When to speak to a doctor

See a GP if you are unusually thirsty, passing much more urine than normal, or losing weight without trying, which together can indicate diabetes. People with diabetes on insulin should take carbohydrate advice from their own team.

Where this comes from

• NHS — Sugar: the facts
• Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition — Carbohydrates and Health

How this page was put together

Every figure, recommendation and warning above is taken from the guidance named in Where this comes from. Nothing on this page is inferred, summarised or generalised beyond what those bodies publish: where they give a number, it is their number, and where they are silent, so are we. Pages are rebuilt whenever the underlying record changes. Sign-off by a named clinician, where it has happened, is shown at the top of the page along with the date.

Medical disclaimer

This article is general information, not medical advice. It cannot account for your own history, medication or circumstances. Always speak to a GP, pharmacist or another qualified health professional before making changes that affect your treatment, and never delay seeking medical advice because of something you have read here. In an emergency, call 999.