Understanding Added Sugar on Food Labels

The word "sugar" on a label or in a product name does not tell you very much. What matters for most of us is whether that sugar is sugar that was added during processing or sugar that is naturally part of the food. This post explains the difference, points to the official sources, and shows how the numbers relate to the limits published by major health organisations.

This is an educational explanation. The limits and figures below come from the cited public organisations — mostly the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) — not from Noshlog.

Added sugar versus intrinsic sugar

Intrinsic sugar is the sugar that occurs naturally and within whole food — for example inside an apple or a carrot.

Added sugar is sugar that is added during processing or preparation. The FDA defines added sugars as sugars that are added when the food is processed or prepared, including:

• sugars from syrups and honey
• sugars from concentrated fruit or vegetable juices in amounts beyond what the same volume of 100% fruit or vegetable juice would provide

Sugars already present in whole or chopped fruit, or in 100% fruit juice, count as intrinsic rather than added.

What the Nutrition Facts label shows

The FDA requires most packaged foods in the United States to list a separate line for Added Sugars under "Total Sugars". The label includes a Daily Value (DV) percentage for added sugars, set at 50 grams per day for the reference (2,000 calorie) diet. The FDA notes that the DV for added sugars is based mainly on the WHO recommendation below.

So a cereal showing "Total Sugars 12 g · Includes 8 g Added Sugars (16% DV)" means that those 8 grams come from sugars added to the product, and that amount uses up 16% of the reference daily allowance.

Official limits

The WHO guideline on sugars intake for adults and children (2015) makes two recommendations:

1. Strong recommendation: reduce the intake of free sugars to less than 10% of total energy intake.
2. Conditional recommendation: reducing it further to below 5% of total energy would provide additional health benefits.

"Free sugars" in the WHO guideline include added sugars plus sugars naturally present in honey, syrups, fruit juices, and fruit juice concentrates. The table below shows what the percentages mean in grams for a typical 2,000-calorie diet (1 g of sugar = 4 kcal):

Threshold	Share of energy	Approx. grams per day (2,000 kcal diet)
WHO strong recommendation	< 10%	< 50 g
FDA Daily Value	10%	50 g
WHO conditional recommendation	< 5%	< 25 g

The numbers line up because both the WHO strong recommendation and the FDA DV sit at the same 10% reference point. The 5% level is a voluntary, stricter goal.

How Noshlog reports sugar

Noshlog stores nutrients per 100 grams or 100 millilitres and, where the data allow it, a separately curated "sugars, added" figure alongside total sugar. When you log a portion, the app scales those figures to the amount you actually ate, so you can compare a day's intake against the government and WHO limits above.

What to take away

• Check the Added Sugars line, not just "sugars" in the ingredient list.
• An intrinsic sugar source (whole fruit) is different from an added one, even when the grams look similar.
• The commonly cited targets are 50 g/day (10% of a 2,000-calorie diet) and a stricter 25 g/day (5%) — but individual needs differ, which is exactly why a professional should verify anything you rely on.