How to Find the Added Sugars
A 20-ounce bottle of soda could have the same amount of sugar as 16 chocolate mini doughnuts. You wouldn’t want your children to eat that much sugar. So why let them drink it? A large amount of added sugar can be hiding in drinks. That’s why it's important to always check the back of the bottle. Read the list of ingredients and the Nutrition Facts label to see how much sugar is in your drink. Below is an example of a label for a 20-ounce soda.
The first few ingredients listed are the ones that appear in the largest amounts. If sugar or a sweetener is listed as one of the first three ingredients, the drink is likely loaded with sugar.
Sugar goes by many names, including:
- Agave Nectar
- Barley malt
- Cane sugar
- Corn syrup
- Corn syrup solids
- Crystalline fructose
- Dextrose
- Evaporated cane juice
- Fructose
- Fruit juice concentrate
- Fruit nectar
- Galactose
- Glucose
- High-fructose corn syrup
- Glucose-fructose syrup
- Honey
- Maltose
- Malt syrup
- Maple syrup
- Molasses
- Brown rice syrup
- Sucrose
Sugar Calculator
Enter the grams of sugar and servings per container listed on the nutrition label of your drink. This will help tell you how many teaspoons of sugar and calories from sugar your drink contains. Every four grams of added sugar equals one teaspoon of added sugar.
The Play Every Day campaign acknowledges the County of Sonoma Department of Health Services for sharing content and images used on its Choose Healthy Drinks website.
