In early 2021, I did a round of Whole30, which opened my eyes to how often sugar is added to food and drinks. Some are more obvious, like soda or candy. But, when reading nutrition labels carefully, I found sugar in bags of frozen peas, salad dressings, ketchup, peanut butter and more.
These foods with sugar, I call “hidden sugar” because I wouldn’t have thought it had sugar!
These items pictured (below) each had “sugar” in the ingredients labels. I never would’ve guessed it’d be in kids vitamins, bread or “natural” peanut butter. I’m glad I checked!
While I’m not still following Whole30, I regularly read nutrition labels and am trying to keep unnecessary sugar out of my foods and house. Some still sneak through!
In 2021, I listened to podcasts and read books, such as my current read, “Fat Chance” by Robert Lustig, to be better informed.
During my Whole30 sugar detox, the headaches and extreme drowsiness were crazy but learning how cumulatively added sugar affects our bodies is eye-opening.
I want to be more educated on sugar for my kids!
Luckily, we don’t have too many foods in the house with hidden sugar anymore. We’ll still buy cereal, granola bars, ice cream, etc. to consciously decide to eat, but do we NEED sugar in bacon, salad dressing or tomato sauce? Absolutely not.
If you’re looking for a quick list of non-produce foods I buy regularly, view my go-to grocery items »
Various Names for “Sugar” in Ingredients List
Perhaps your new year’s resolution includes eating healthier, cutting back on sugar or losing weight. If so, here’s a list that may help you identify hidden sugar in processed foods:
- Agave nectar
- Buttered syrup
- Caramel
- Carob syrup
- Corn syrup
- Crystalline fructose
- Dextrose
- Diastatic maltol
- Evaporated cane juice
- Fructose
- Fruit juice
- Fruit juice concentrate
- Galactose
- Glucose
- Golden syrup
- High-fructose corn syrup
- Honey
- Lactose
- Malt syrup
- Maltodextrin
- Maltose
- Maple syrup
- Molasses
- Raw syrup
- Refiner’s syrup
- Rice syrup
- Sucrose
Note: this list doesn’t even include artificial sweeteners like aspartame!
The longer list of other names for sugar in “Fat Chance” by Robert Lustig , but these are the ones that don’t say the word “sugar.” When paying attention, I’ve definitely seen these various names on nutrition labels.
In 2021, I learned how food manufacturers are OK with modifying foods to last longer on shelves (sometimes for years!) and to become more addictive to the consumer. Many don’t care about our nutrition or what happens to our bodies if we eat their food.
It’s sad but their income matters more. Don’t assume if it’s sold in grocery stores, it’s OK to eat.
Are you already familiar with the many varieties of sugar? What foods have you been surprised that have sugar? How have you been keeping sugar out of your diet or household? Comment below!
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