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Home » How to Start » Food Shopping

Too Many Names for Sugar: Which Ones to Avoid!

As I've mentioned before, added sugar is considered the most dangerous part of the Standard American Diet. It's no longer just reserved for sweets anymore and instead found in soooo many different products including breads, crackers, snack foods, yogurts and even salad dressings.

The really tricky part though is that added sugar is listed under a variety of different names that could easily be overlooked. Plus, even if you do a quick check to make sure it's not among the top three ingredients listed (and what the product contains the most of), you could miss the fact that many companies use three or four different types of added sugar in a single product, so they will all end up lower on the list. Sneaky, I know!

Below are all the names we found ... I know it's a lot to look out for when checking ingredient labels, but I promise this is an important one!

All the different names for sugar on 100 Days of Real Food

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Names for Added, Refined Sugar*

  1. Agave nectar
  2. Barbados sugar
  3. Barley malt
  4. Barley malt syrup
  5. Beet sugar
  6. Brown sugar
  7. Buttered syrup
  8. Cane juice
  9. Cane juice crystals
  10. Cane sugar
  11. Caramel
  12. Carob syrup
  13. Castor sugar
  14. Coconut palm sugar
  15. Coconut sugar
  16. Confectioner's sugar
  17. Corn sweetener
  18. Corn syrup
  19. Corn syrup solids
  20. Date sugar
  21. Dehydrated cane juice
  22. Demerara sugar
  23. Dextrin
  24. Dextrose
  25. Evaporated cane juice
  26. Free-flowing brown sugars
  27. Fructose
  28. Fruit juice concentrate
  29. Glucose
  30. Glucose solids
  31. Golden sugar
  32. Golden syrup
  33. Grape sugar
  34. HFCS (High-Fructose Corn Syrup)
  35. Icing sugar
  36. Invert sugar
  37. Malt syrup
  38. Maltodextrin
  39. Maltol
  40. Maltose
  41. Mannose
  42. Molasses
  43. Muscovado
  44. Palm sugar
  45. Panocha
  46. Powdered sugar
  47. Raw sugar
  48. Refiner's syrup
  49. Rice syrup
  50. Saccharose
  51. Sorghum syrup
  52. Sucrose
  53. Sugar (granulated)
  54. Sweet sorghum
  55. Syrup
  56. Treacle
  57. Turbinado sugar
  58. Yellow sugar

Also be on the lookout for Unrefined, Added Sugar...

  1. Honey
  2. Pure maple syrup

*Source: Sugar Science

Once again sugar itself is not the problem - it's the quantity in which it's being consumed. So if you're going to indulge in some of these sweet ingredients just make sure you don't exceed the recommended daily allowance for added sugar, which is 6 teaspoons (24 grams) for women, 9 teaspoons (36 grams) for men, and 3 teaspoons (12 grams) for children.

Did I miss any names for sugar on this list? If so, please share below in the comments!

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About Lisa Leake

Lisa is a wife, mother, foodie, blogger, and #1 New York Times Best-selling author who is on a mission to cut out processed food.

Comments

  1. Tamika says

    February 03, 2021 at 2:53 pm

    I was wondering if Monk Fruit would count as a real food?

    Reply
  2. Julie says

    January 21, 2018 at 3:13 pm

    Hello! I found maple syrup in a granulated form. Would that meet real food guidelines?

    Reply
    • Amy Taylor (comment moderator) says

      January 23, 2018 at 11:02 am

      Hi there. Technically, that is one step more processed but I use it, too. :)

      Reply
  3. Monica says

    September 08, 2016 at 10:45 pm

    Monk fruit sweetener

    Reply
  4. Suzanne says

    August 25, 2016 at 6:45 pm

    What does the average American consume a day?

    Reply
    • Amy Taylor (comment moderator) says

      August 26, 2016 at 9:14 pm

      The last stat I saw was 19.5 teaspoons per day.

      Reply
  5. Ann says

    August 25, 2016 at 2:51 am

    Alcohol sugar should be added to this list.
    I was shocked to learn there was such an ingredient in my sugar free pancake syrup.

    Reply
    • Lori says

      August 28, 2016 at 12:55 pm

      Hi Ann, Alcohol sugar is not technically a sugar. It is an alcohol that is used in sugar free products as a replacement for sugar. So your sugar free pancake syrup is sugar free. Sugar alcohol is in those diabetic friendly foods,since not sugar diabetics can consume it. I believe that is why it was developed, more as a medical food replacement, but of course it has made its way into a lot of foods to make it sugar free, "health food washed". However, it is not natural and has its own side effects, some of which are not pleasant if you consume much of it!

      Reply
      • Plamen says

        September 16, 2016 at 5:32 am

        What are the side effects of alcohol sugar, aspartame, stevia, and other sugar substitutes?

      • Amy Green says

        August 12, 2017 at 12:04 am

        Stevia is from a plant and doesn't have any side effects. Sugar alcohols can cause digestive issues.

      • Amy Green says

        August 12, 2017 at 12:03 am

        "Not pleasant" - for me that meant an entire afternoon spent in the work bathroom when I accidentally ate 2 sugar-free mini peppermint patties!!

  6. Elizabeth says

    August 25, 2016 at 1:08 am

    Wow! That is quite a list. I knew there was a lot of different kinds of sugar out there but your list makes it seem even more ridiculous.

    Reply
  7. Nicole says

    August 24, 2016 at 9:37 pm

    Thanks for the list this is very helpful.

    Reply
  8. Phil Sumner says

    August 24, 2016 at 8:17 pm

    I have understood date sugar (have to read the labels of course) was simply dried dates that were ground to a sugar consistency. A whole food. It will not dissolve in liquids of course, but not refined, if you get one that is organic, or labeled without all the additives. Is this true?

    Reply
    • Dina says

      August 26, 2016 at 4:58 pm

      Great question!! YES.... Lisa... Please Answer! Thanks!

      Reply
    • Amy Taylor (comment moderator) says

      August 30, 2016 at 10:35 am

      Hi. It is certainly less processed than other forms of sugar. Here is a good example with info on the product: http://www.shilohfarms.com/date-sugar-organic/. Lisa was pointing out all the names of which added forms of sugar can appear on a label.

      Reply
  9. linzie says

    August 24, 2016 at 7:01 pm

    Crystalline fructose, which, according to Dr. Mercola, is even worse than high fructose corn syrup.

    Reply
  10. Marie says

    August 24, 2016 at 4:26 pm

    I've seen labels recently that add "(glucose-fructose syrup)" after the HFCS.

    Reply
  11. Katherine Steiner says

    August 24, 2016 at 2:13 pm

    I'm currently reading a book called 'Ingredients: A Visual Exploration of 75 Food Additives and 25 Food Products' by Dwight Eschliman that might be of interest to those interested in this blog post.

    Reply
  12. James says

    August 24, 2016 at 2:10 pm

    The problem is more than added sugar: its the 'simple' sugars. These are currently listed on food labels. Whatever the source, they need to be assessed. If the food is 'natural', check a nutritional database. Unless you know what you put in your mouth, you can't get basic control of your body.

    Reply
  13. Cynthia says

    August 24, 2016 at 1:43 pm

    Thank you for the list. A good reminder of things to watch for on food labels. I don't know if it technically is a "Sugar" but stevia is very sweet!

    Reply
  14. jennifer says

    August 24, 2016 at 1:33 pm

    I recently came across monk sugar? on a label. What is that? The item was tagged as not artificially sweetened.

    Reply
    • Erica says

      August 24, 2016 at 2:53 pm

      Monk fruit is what the monk sugar is from. Most likely processed the same way as other fruit sugars are.

      Reply
  15. Deb says

    August 24, 2016 at 1:25 pm

    Brown rice syrup is another one

    Reply
  16. Sarah Dickison says

    August 23, 2016 at 12:21 am

    rebiana, erythritol A.K.A. Truvia is created by Coca Cola, and is actually from Corn...since it would be impossible to commercially farm enough from the fruit plants to sell en mass.

    Reply
  17. Narise says

    August 22, 2016 at 9:27 pm

    Does trivia count as a sugar or is it in a different class?

    Reply
    • Narise says

      August 22, 2016 at 9:28 pm

      I meant truvia

      Reply
      • Amy Taylor (comment moderator) says

        August 25, 2016 at 3:15 pm

        Truvia is an artificial sweetener.

  18. Taste of France says

    August 22, 2016 at 3:14 pm

    I recently learned that cane sugar was introduced to Westerners at the same time as tobacco. Two things that are best avoided.

    Reply

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