Other Names for Added Sugar Here are some other names for added sugar found in the ingredient list: • High-fructose corn syrup • Brown sugar • Corn sweetener • Corn syrup • Dextrose • Fructose • Glucose • Honey • Invert sugar • Lactose • Malt syrup • Maltose • Molasses • Raw sugar • Sucrose • Trehalose • Turbinado sugar
Sugar in Grams
Sugar in Teaspoons (approximate)
Coca-Cola (1 can)
39
8
Gatorade (12 ounces)
21
4
Juicy Juice Fruit Punch (8 ounces)
26
5
Oatmeal Creme Pie
27
5
Granola bar (Oats & Honey)
12
2
HEB chocolate cake with Icing (4-inch square serving)
95
19
HEB peach pie (1 slice)
23
4
Nutella spread (2 tablespoons)
24
5
Strawberry yogurt (low fat, 6 ounces)
26
5
Food
Source: Information taken directly from food packaging
Source: Health.gov
than one 8-ounce sugar-sweetened beverage per week. • Choose whole fruit over fruit juice or fruit drinks. Many fruit drinks contain high amounts of added sugars, are high in calories and don’t offer the benefit of fiber from whole fruit. • Limit processed foods, such as packaged snacks. • Offer your child food from all five food groups: fruits, vegetables, grains, protein and dairy. Visit choosemyplate.gov for tips on how to optimize nutrition. • Avoid high-fructose corn syrup. Some studies link excessive levels of high-fructose corn syrup with accumulation of fat in the liver. • Pay attention to how much added sugar is in a food. Check total grams of sugar and divide by 5 to calculate teaspoons. Fifteen grams of sugar may not sound like a lot, but it’s equivalent to 3 teaspoons of sugar. That’s half of the daily recommendation. • Involve children in checking labels for added sugars. This will teach them how to make good food choices. af Brenda Schoolfield is a freelance medical writer in Austin.
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March 2017 l austinfamily.com
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