Sugar is a type of carbohydrate. The amount of sugar in a product appears in the Nutrition Information Panel beside the heading ‘SUGARS’. Generally, you should look for foods with much more total carbohydrate than sugar alone. Find the amount of sugars in the column headed ‘PER 100g’. Try to choose foods that contain less than 10 grams of sugar per 100 grams.
It is okay to eat foods that are a little higher in sugar if they are also a good source of other important nutrients. For example, a fruit snack product that has slightly more sugar than recommended, but provides important nutrients like vitamins and fibre can be eaten regularly.
Products that state ‘no added sugar’ aren’t necessarily low in sugar. Although sugar has not been added to these products during processing, natural sugars may still be present.
Products labelled as ‘low in sugar’ contain less than 5 grams of sugar per 100 grams.