Understanding Sugar on Food Labels: 61 Names to Know

Sugar on Food Labels

There are over 61 different names for sugar. Some are familiar, such as high-fructose corn syrup. Some names — like mannose — may not sound like sugar at all. It's important to understand how much sugar you're eating, because having too much sugar has been linked to many diseases.

The Problem With Too Much Sugar Foods with too much sugar contribute to health problems such as:

• Poor nutrition, because foods with added sugars often take the place of healthier, more nutritious foods

• Weight gain, because it's easy to overeat sugary foods and drinks

• Tooth decay, because sugar allows bacteria to grow on your teeth

• High triglycerides, because sugar increases the amount of this type of fat in your blood.

To help you keep track of how much added sugar you're getting in your food, the Food and Drug Administration now requires food labels to include how much total sugar is in a serving as well as how much added sugar is in a serving. Added sugars don't include the natural sugars found in food.

Other Names for Sugar

Food manufactures have to list the ingredients on a food label in order by weight. Sweeteners that come in forms other than table sugar may be listed by other names, including:

• Agave nectar

• Brown sugar

• Evaporated cane juice

• Malt syrup

• Fructose

• Maple syrup

• Cane crystals

• Fruit juice concentrate

• Molasses

• Cane sugar

• Glucose

• Raw sugar

• Corn sweetener

• High-fructose corn syrup

• Sucrose

• Corn syrup

• Honey

• Syrup

• Crystalline fructose

• Invert sugar

• Dextrose

• Maltose

Reference/Source:

European Journal of Nutrition: "A review of recent evidence relating to sugars, insulin resistance and diabetes.“