44 Nicknames for Added Sugar

The American Heart Association recommends 25g of added sugar per day for women and 36g for men, but on average, Americans consume a whopping 68g per day. If you're shocked, you're not alone, but it makes sense considering all the ways sugar can make its way into our food. Food manufacturers add sugar to foods under at least 44 different nicknames, so it's no wonder we consume added sugar without realizing it.
On a food label, the section for sugars lists total sugars and added sugars. Total sugars include both added sugars and natural sugars (like the kind found in fruit). While all of the added sugars will be listed, you won't find natural sugars listed in the ingredients.
Added sugar is the type you want to reduce in your diet because it doesn't have any fiber, vitamins or minerals alongside it the way natural sugars do. Next time you're grocery shopping, check out the nutrition facts and ingredients label and look for these ingredients to get a sense of how much added sugar is in your food.

Watch out for anything with "syrup" in the name
Ingredients ending in -ose (glucose, sucrose, fructose...) are typically sugars

Agave nectar

Barley malt syrup

Beet sugar

Brown rice syrup

Brown sugar

Cane crystals

Cane juice crystals

Cane sugar

Corn sweetener

Corn syrup

Corn syrup solids

Crystalline fructose

Date sugar

Dehydrated cane juice

Dextrin

Dextrose

Evaporated cane juice

Fructose

Fruit juice

Fruit juice concentrate

Glucose

Glucose solids

Glycerol

Golden brown sugar

Golden syrup

Grape sugar

High fructose corn syrup

Honey

Invert sugar

Lactose

Malitol syrup*

Malt syrup

Maltose

Maple syrup

Molasses

Raw sugar

Rice syrup

Saccharose

Sorghum

Sorghum syrup

Sucrose

Syrup

Treacle

Turbinado sugar

Agave nectar
Barley malt syrup
Beet sugar
Brown rice syrup
Brown sugar
Cane crystals
Cane juice crystals
Cane sugar
Corn sweetener
Corn syrup
Corn syrup solids
Crystalline fructose
Date sugar
Dehydrated cane juice
Dextrin
Dextrose
Evaporated cane juice
Fructose
Fruit juice
Fruit juice concentrate
Glucose
Glucose solids
Glycerol
Golden brown sugar
Golden syrup
Grape sugar
High fructose corn syrup
Honey
Invert sugar
Lactose
Malitol syrup*
Malt syrup
Maltose
Maple syrup
Molasses
Raw sugar
Rice syrup
Saccharose
Sorghum
Sorghum syrup
Sucrose
Syrup
Treacle
Turbinado sugar
*Malitol Syrup is a sugar alcohol that provides approximately 3 calories per gram with a glycemic index (52), close to that of sugar (60). Glycerol provides approximately 4 calories per gram.
Originally published March 2014, updated January 2023
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