How much added sugar is too much?

UK advice is no more than 30 g of free sugars a day for adults, about seven sugar cubes. Children aged 7 to 10 should have no more than 24 g, and children aged 4 to 6 no more than 19 g.

What is the difference between added sugars and total sugars?

Total sugars include the sugars naturally present in fruit, vegetables and milk. Added sugars are only the ones put in during manufacturing, cooking or at the table.

Which foods are highest in added sugar?

Sugar itself, sweets, chocolate, sugary drinks, biscuits, cakes, some breakfast cereals and sweetened yoghurts.

Is the sugar in fruit a problem?

The sugar inside whole fruit is not counted as free sugar. Fruit juice and smoothies are, because blending and juicing release the sugar from the fruit's cells.

Foods high in Added sugars

Sugars added during manufacturing, cooking or at the table, such as table sugar, syrups and honey used as an ingredient. Does not include the sugars naturally present in whole fruit, vegetables and milk.

About Added sugars

Added sugars are sugars put into food during manufacturing, cooking or at the table: table sugar, glucose, syrups, and honey used as an ingredient. They are not the same as the sugars naturally present in whole fruit, vegetables and milk, which come packaged with fibre, water and other nutrients.

UK advice is framed around free sugars, a slightly wider group: added sugars plus the sugars in honey, syrups and fruit juice. Adults are advised to have no more than 30 g of free sugars a day, about seven sugar cubes, and children less. The percentages on our food pages use the 90 g reference intake on UK labels, which is for total sugars, so 30 g is the stricter figure to aim for.

Sugary drinks, sweets, biscuits, cakes, breakfast cereals and sweetened yoghurts supply most of the added sugar in UK diets. Too much is linked to tooth decay and, through the extra calories, to weight gain.

Foods high in added sugars, syrup, sugar, sugar, and more

Ranked by how much you get per calorie, so foods are not rewarded for simply being dry or concentrated. Values from USDA FoodData Central, McCance & Widdowson's CoFID, ANSES Ciqual, and other public nutrition databases. Amounts in grams.

Per calorie is the default here because it answers what to eat: ranked purely by amount, a list of the richest foods fills up with dried and concentrated things nobody eats a plateful of. Switch to per 100 grams above if concentration is what you are after.

Common questions about Added sugars

How much added sugar is too much?: UK advice is no more than 30 g of free sugars a day for adults, about seven sugar cubes. Children aged 7 to 10 should have no more than 24 g, and children aged 4 to 6 no more than 19 g.
What is the difference between added sugars and total sugars?: Total sugars include the sugars naturally present in fruit, vegetables and milk. Added sugars are only the ones put in during manufacturing, cooking or at the table.
Which foods are highest in added sugar?: Sugar itself, sweets, chocolate, sugary drinks, biscuits, cakes, some breakfast cereals and sweetened yoghurts.
Is the sugar in fruit a problem?: The sugar inside whole fruit is not counted as free sugar. Fruit juice and smoothies are, because blending and juicing release the sugar from the fruit's cells.