Cutting down on sugar can help you lose weight and reduce your risk of tooth decay, as Michelle Higgs explains
“When you go shopping, look carefully at the food labels that provide nutritional information about the products”
“If you’ve always added sugar to your tea and/or coffee, it can be difficult to get out of the habit – especially if you take more than one sugar. The trick is to cut back gradually so that you no longer notice the difference”
“Cook more from scratch and make your own pasta sauce and soups to avoid added sugar. You can also do the same with home-made cakes and biscuits, gradually reducing the amount of sugar you add to the recipes”
Facts/stats
Only 3% of breakfast cereals marketed to children are low in sugar
(Food Foundation, The Broken Plate 2025)
A pot of sugary yoghurt contains up to 6 cubes of sugar
(NHS Better Health, Healthier Families)
Every 10 minutes, a child in England has a tooth removed in hospital
(NHS Better Health, Healthier Families)
In the UK, we’re a nation of sugar lovers. On average, we eat more than the recommended limit of around 30g of sugar per day, which should not make up more than 5% of our daily calories. That includes sugar we add to food and drink; sugar in shop-bought products; and what’s found naturally in fruit juice, honey and syrups.
Anyone eating too much sugar will be taking in excess calories with no nutritional value, which can lead to being overweight or even obesity. This, in turn, increases the risk of stroke, heart disease and type 2 diabetes. Too much sugar can also cause tooth decay; this is a particular issue for young children.
How much is too much sugar?
There’s nothing wrong with eating sugary things as an occasional treat, but they shouldn’t make up a significant proportion of your daily diet. It’s recommended that adults and children aged 11+ should have no more than 30g of sugar (7 sugar cubes) a day. A teaspoon of sugar is roughly the same as one sugar cube.
Different guidelines apply to younger children. For 1 year olds, the recommended daily limit is 10g (2½ sugar cubes); for 2-3 year olds, it’s 14g (3½ sugar cubes); for 4-6 year olds, 19g (5 sugar cubes); and for 7-10 year olds, 24g (6 sugar cubes). Sugars should not be added to food or drink given to babies under the age of 1.
These limits are made up of ‘free’ sugars: sugar you add to drinks and food; sugar that is added to products by manufacturers; and sugar that occurs naturally in honey, syrups, nectars and unsweetened fruit juice. Because fruit juice and smoothies contain ‘free’ sugars, it’s recommended that you stick to one 150ml glass per day, which counts as one of your 5 a day.
Sugar found naturally in whole fruits and vegetables, and in milk, do not count as ‘free’ sugars. They contribute to your 5 a day so there’s no need to worry about them. It is ‘free’ sugars we have too much of and need to cut back on. They include some foods you might think of as healthy, such as fruity yoghurts, cereal bars, milkshakes and breakfast cereals.
Finding ‘hidden’ sugar
When you go shopping, look carefully at the food labels that provide nutritional information about the products. Many food labels use the traffic light system with red, amber and green colour coding. An item that’s high in sugar (more than 22.5g of total sugars per 100g) will be labelled as red. A product that’s low in sugar (5g of total sugars or less per 100g) will be shown as green, while items between these ranges in terms of sugar content will be labelled as amber. Some products, such as breakfast cereal, have colour coding displayed on the front of the packet showing the amount of sugar per portion. Try to buy fewer products that are labelled red, and more that are green or amber.
If the product doesn’t use the traffic light system, look for the ‘Carbohydrates (of which sugars)’ figure on the food label. This shows the amount of sugar from all sources, including from fruit, vegetables, plain milk or plain yoghurt (which you don’t need to cut back on). You can usually tell if a product has any of these ingredients; in most cases, it will still be a healthier choice than something that’s not based on fresh produce, milk or yoghurt, even though it may have the same amount of sugar.
You can also look at the ingredients list for the product, which starts with the ingredient that there’s most of (sometimes shown as a percentage) and finishing with the one that there’s very little of. If sugar is one of the first ingredients, the product is high in sugar.
Be aware that there are lots of different names for sugar in lists of ingredients including fructose, maltose, sucrose, glucose, maltodextrin, syrup, honey, invert sugar, hydrolysed starch and palm sugar.
The amount of sugar in shop-bought products can be a real shock. A standard chocolate bar contains 10 teaspoons of sugar; a flapjack, 5½ teaspoons; and one ginger nut biscuit, 2½ teaspoons. A glass of squash has between 8 and 10 teaspoons of sugar, while a can of standard cola has 9. Don’t forget that sugar isn’t just in sweet things. Savoury items like ketchup, pasta sauce, salad cream, baked beans and soup can all be high in sugar.
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6 ways to cut down on sugar
- Buy sugar-free drinks
This is a biggie, particularly if you and your family regularly have fizzy drinks. In fact, half of the sugar children eat comes from sugary drinks and snacks. Switch to sugar-free versions of your favourite drinks, and try plain water, low-sugar squash or diluted fruit juice instead. If you crave the fizz, experiment with adding squash to sparkling water (but check the label for added sugar first).
- Choose low-sugar products
Standard ketchup, brown sauce, dips and dressings can all be high in sugar. But there are so many alternatives to standard products now, it’s easier than ever to find lower-sugar versions that taste just as good. Even better, reduced-sugar items are often also reduced in salt, so it’s a win-win! If you’re a toast devotee, there are even lower-sugar jams to try.
- Don’t add sugar to hot drinks
If you’ve always added sugar to your tea and/or coffee, it can be difficult to get out of the habit – especially if you take more than one sugar. The trick is to cut back gradually so that you no longer notice the difference. Remember that, nutritionally, there’s no difference between white and brown sugar. Alternatively, try an artificial sweetener in your hot drinks.
- Choose low-sugar cereals
When buying breakfast cereal, avoid anything described as ‘frosted’ or with added chocolate or honey. Plain porridge made with low-fat milk; wheat biscuits or shredded whole wheat; and muesli with no added sugar are all healthy choices. Try adding fruits like berries, chopped banana or dried apricots instead of sugar.
- Get cooking and baking
Cook more from scratch and make your own pasta sauce and soups to avoid added sugar. You can also do the same with home-made cakes and biscuits, gradually reducing the amount of sugar you add to the recipes. The only things this doesn’t work for are meringues, jam and ice cream.
- Use the NHS Food Scanner app
Find out how much sugar is in a product with the NHS Food Scanner app. Simply scan the barcode before you buy and if it’s high in sugar, think about choosing something less sugary. If you have children, you could also try the NHS Better Health Healthier Families sugar calculator (https://www.nhs.uk/healthier-families/food-facts/sugar-calculator/).
