Added sugars or free sugars are sugar

carbohydrate In organic chemistry, a carbohydrate () is a biomolecule consisting of carbon (C), hydrogen (H) and oxygen (O) atoms, usually with a hydrogen–oxygen atom ratio of 2:1 (as in water) and thus with the empirical formula (where ''m'' may or m ...

s (caloric

sweeteners A sugar substitute is a food additive that provides a sweetness like that of sugar while containing significantly less food energy than sugar-based sweeteners, making it a zero-calorie () or low-calorie sweetener. Artificial sweeteners may be d ...

) added to food and

beverage A drink or beverage is a liquid intended for human consumption. In addition to their basic function of satisfying thirst, drinks play important roles in human culture. Common types of drinks include plain drinking water, milk, juice, smoo ...

s at some point before their consumption. These include added carbohydrates ( monosaccharides and

disaccharide A disaccharide (also called a double sugar or ''biose'') is the sugar formed when two monosaccharides are joined by glycosidic linkage. Like monosaccharides, disaccharides are simple sugars soluble in water. Three common examples are sucrose, la ...

s), and more broadly, sugars naturally present in

honey Honey is a sweet and viscous substance made by several bees, the best-known of which are honey bees. Honey is made and stored to nourish bee colonies. Bees produce honey by gathering and then refining the sugary secretions of plants (primar ...

syrup In cooking, a syrup (less commonly sirup; from ar, شراب; , beverage, wine and la, sirupus) is a condiment that is a thick, viscous liquid consisting primarily of a solution of sugar in water, containing a large amount of dissolved sugars ...

, and fruits. They can take multiple chemical forms, including sucrose (table sugar),

glucose Glucose is a simple sugar with the molecular formula . Glucose is overall the most abundant monosaccharide, a subcategory of carbohydrates. Glucose is mainly made by plants and most algae during photosynthesis from water and carbon dioxide, u ...

(dextrose), and fructose. Medical consensus holds that added sugars contribute little

nutritional value Nutritional value or nutritive value as part of food quality is the measure of a well-balanced ratio of the essential nutrients carbohydrates, fat, protein, minerals, and vitamins in items of food or diet concerning the nutrient requirements of t ...

to food, leading to a colloquial description as "

empty calories In human nutrition, empty calories are those calories found in beverages (including alcoholic) and foods composed primarily or solely of sugars and/or certain fats and oils such as cholesterol, saturated or trans fats, that provide little to no us ...

". Overconsumption of sugar is correlated with excessive calorie intake and increased risk of

weight gain Weight gain is an increase in body weight. This can involve an increase in muscle mass, fat deposits, excess fluids such as water or other factors. Weight gain can be a symptom of a serious medical condition. Description Weight gain occurs w ...

and various diseases.

Uses

United States

In the United States, added sugars may include sucrose or

high-fructose corn syrup High-fructose corn syrup (HFCS), also known as glucose–fructose, isoglucose and glucose–fructose syrup, is a sweetener made from corn starch. As in the production of conventional corn syrup, the starch is broken down into glucose by enzy ...

, both primarily composed of about half

and half fructose. Other types of added sugar ingredients include

beet The beetroot is the taproot portion of a beet plant, usually known in North America as beets while the vegetable is referred to as beetroot in British English, and also known as the table beet, garden beet, red beet, dinner beet or golden beet ...

and

cane sugar Sucrose, a disaccharide, is a sugar composed of glucose and fructose subunits. It is produced naturally in plants and is the main constituent of white sugar. It has the molecular formula . For human consumption, sucrose is extracted and refine ...

malt syrup Barley malt syrup is an unrefined sweetener, processed by extraction from sprouted, malted, barley. Barley malt syrup contains approximately 65 percent maltose, 30 percent complex carbohydrates, and 3 percent storage protein (prolamin glycopro ...

, maple syrup, pancake syrup, fructose sweetener, liquid fructose, fruit

juice Juice is a drink made from the extraction or pressing of the natural liquid contained in fruit and vegetables. It can also refer to liquids that are flavored with concentrate or other biological food sources, such as meat or seafood, such as ...

concentrate,

, and molasses. The most common types of foods containing added sugars are sweetened beverages, including most soft drinks, and also desserts and sweet snacks, which represent 20% of daily calorie consumption, twice the recommendation of the

World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health. The WHO Constitution states its main objective as "the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level of ...

(WHO). Based on a 2012 study on the use of caloric and noncaloric sweeteners in some 85,000 food and beverage products, 74% of the products contained added sugar.

Sweetened beverages

Sweetened beverages contain a

mixture of the monosaccharides glucose and fructose formed by

hydrolytic Hydrolysis (; ) is any chemical reaction in which a molecule of water breaks one or more chemical bonds. The term is used broadly for substitution, elimination, and solvation reactions in which water is the nucleophile. Biological hydrolysi ...

saccharification In chemistry, saccharification is a term for denoting any chemical change wherein a monosaccharide molecule remains intact after becoming unbound from another saccharide. For example, when a carbohydrate is broken into its component sugar molecul ...

of the

sucrose. The bioavailability of liquid carbohydrates is higher than in solid sugars, as characterized by sugar type and by the estimated rate of digestion. There is evidence for a positive and

causal relationship Causality (also referred to as causation, or cause and effect) is influence by which one event, process, state, or object (''a'' ''cause'') contributes to the production of another event, process, state, or object (an ''effect'') where the ca ...

between excessive intake of fruit juices and increased risk of some chronic

metabolic disease A metabolic disorder is a disorder that negatively alters the body's processing and distribution of macronutrients, such as proteins, fats, and carbohydrates. Metabolic disorders can happen when abnormal chemical reactions in the body alter the ...

Guidelines

World Health Organization

In 2003, the WHO defined free sugars principally by defining the term "

" into elements that relate more directly to the impact on health rather than a chemical definition, and followed on from meta-studies relating to

chronic disease A chronic condition is a health condition or disease that is persistent or otherwise long-lasting in its effects or a disease that comes with time. The term ''chronic'' is often applied when the course of the disease lasts for more than three m ...

obesity Obesity is a medical condition, sometimes considered a disease, in which excess body fat has accumulated to such an extent that it may negatively affect health. People are classified as obese when their body mass index (BMI)—a person's ...

, and

dental decay Tooth decay, also known as cavities or caries, is the breakdown of teeth due to acids produced by bacteria. The cavities may be a number of different colors from yellow to black. Symptoms may include pain and difficulty with eating. Complicatio ...

related to the overconsumption of high quantities of added sugar in processed foods. In tandem with the

Food and Agriculture Organization The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)french: link=no, Organisation des Nations unies pour l'alimentation et l'agriculture; it, Organizzazione delle Nazioni Unite per l'Alimentazione e l'Agricoltura is an intern ...

, the WHO published a revised food pyramid that splits up the diet into more health-directed groups, recommending that a maximum of 10% of an individual's diet should come from free sugars. Sugar companies disputed the WHO report for suggesting that consumption of free sugars within the food pyramid should only amount to a daily maximum of 10%, and that there should be no minimum sugar intake. In 2015, the WHO published a new guideline on sugar intake for adults and children as a result of an extensive review of the available scientific evidence by a multidisciplinary group of experts. The guideline recommends that both adults and children reduce the intake of free sugars to less than 10% of total energy intake. In 2016, added sugar was added to the revised version of the nutrition facts label and was a given a daily value of 50 grams or 200 calories per day for a 2,000 calorie diet.

European Food Safety Authority

In February 2022, scientists of the

European Food Safety Authority The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) is the agency of the European Union (EU) that provides independent scientific advice and communicates on existing and emerging risks associated with the food chain. EFSA was established in February 2002, ...

(EFSA) concluded that sugar consumption is a known cause of

dental caries Tooth decay, also known as cavities or caries, is the breakdown of teeth due to acids produced by bacteria. The cavities may be a number of different colors from yellow to black. Symptoms may include pain and difficulty with eating. Complicat ...

, and that evidence also links to consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages, juices and nectars with various chronic metabolic diseases including obesity,

non-alcoholic fatty liver disease Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), also known as metabolic (dysfunction) associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD), is excessive fat build-up in the liver without another clear cause such as alcohol use. There are two types; non-alcoholic ...

, and

type 2 diabetes Type 2 diabetes, formerly known as adult-onset diabetes, is a form of diabetes mellitus that is characterized by high blood sugar, insulin resistance, and relative lack of insulin. Common symptoms include increased thirst, frequent urinatio ...

. EFSA stated: "We underlined there are uncertainties about chronic disease risk for people whose consumption of added and free sugars is below 10% of their total energy intake".

American Heart Association

In 2018, the American Heart Association recommended daily intake of sugar for men is 9

teaspoon A teaspoon (tsp.) is an item of cutlery. It is a small spoon that can be used to stir a cup of tea or coffee, or as a tool for measuring volume. The size of teaspoons ranges from about . For cooking purposes and dosing of medicine, a teaspoonf ...

s or per day, and for women, six teaspoons or per day. Overconsumption of sugars in foods and beverages may increase the risk of several diseases.

References

{{sugar Obesity Sugar Sugar industry