How to find those hidden added sugars

We’re consuming too much sugar. The average adult in the United Kingdom consumes between 9% and 12.5% of their calories from free sugar each day (54-75 grams (g) per day, or about 13-19 cubes of sugar), well above the amount recommended by the National Health Service. ^1,2 

The NHS recommends limiting free sugars to no more than 5% of calories each day. This means no more than 30 g per day for adults; roughly equal to seven sugar cubes. ¹ 

When you think of sugar in foods, cakes, biscuits, and other sweets come to mind. But those aren’t the only sources of sugar. Hidden sugar is common in packaged foods and goes by many names. Regardless of the name, they could all cause a glucose spike. 

But there’s good news. Even food labels with hidden sugars give us hints to lead us to them. Here are a few of them:  

1. In the United Kingdom, packaged foods with over 22 g of sugars per 100 g are clearly marked and highlighted red. Foods with 5-22 g of sugar per 100 g are highlighted orange. And finally, foods with under 5 g of sugars per 100 g are highlighted green. Sticking mostly to foods in the green category can help you avoid those hidden sugars without having to search up and down the food label. ¹ 
2. Look for the words syrup and sugar in the ingredient list. Examples include brown rice syrup, corn syrup, and cane sugar.  
3. Sugar may also be labelled with the ending “-ose”, like glucose, dextrose, fructose, galactose, sucrose, or maltose.  
4. Other names include molasses, honey, agave, cane juice, barley malt, and potato starch.  

It’s important to remember that just because foods contain these words, it doesn’t mean they’re always bad choices. You can still occasionally enjoy these foods, in the proper portions listed on the food label. Consuming them after you have foods like vegetables, protein, and healthy fats can help decrease their impact on your glucose. ³ 

A final note from Lingo 

Hidden sugars can have a big impact on your glucose without you realizing you’ve been eating them. To maintain steady glucose levels and manage your sugar intake effectively, keep an eye on nutrition facts labels and ingredients lists. 

You can track the effects of hidden sugars on your glucose using a continuous glucose monitor (CGM) like Lingo. These devices provide data that can help you work out which foods might work for you to keep your glucose steady. 

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