Hidden Sugars on Food Labels: 60+ Names Sugar Hides Behind

If sugar were always called “sugar” on food labels, the average American diet would look very different. The trouble is that sugar hides behind dozens of other names — many of them sounding like ingredients you’d find in a health food store. This is the complete list, organized by type, with the ones that fool people most often called out specifically.

Why this matters

The FDA requires “added sugars” to be listed separately from “total sugars” on the nutrition facts panel as of 2020. That’s helpful, but it doesn’t tell you which sugars are in your food, which can matter for several reasons:

• Different sugars have different glycemic responses
• Some “natural” or “organic” sweeteners are marketed as healthier when chemically they’re nearly identical to refined sugar
• Long ingredient lists with multiple sugar sources can hide the fact that sugar is the dominant ingredient
• Ingredient lists are required to be in descending order by weight — splitting sugar across three names lets manufacturers push it down the list

For people on low-carb diets, eyeing the ingredient list and recognizing sugar in any form is a critical skill. Here’s the master list.

Disguised sugars (the most commonly missed)

These are the names that fool people most often because they sound natural, healthy, or scientific.

• Barley malt extract / barley malt syrup — common in cereals and granola
• Brown rice syrup — common in “natural” energy bars
• Cane juice / cane juice crystals / evaporated cane juice — refined sugar in disguise
• Carob syrup — used as a natural-sounding sweetener
• Coconut sugar / coconut nectar — sounds healthier than it is
• Date sugar / date syrup / date paste — concentrated fruit sugar
• Fruit juice concentrate — sugar with fruit flavor
• Maltodextrin — technically a polysaccharide but acts like glucose; very high glycemic index
• Rice syrup / rice syrup solids
• Sorghum syrup

If you see “fruit juice concentrate” or “evaporated cane juice” near the top of an ingredient list, you’re looking at sugar — period. The marketing terms exist because “sugar” is now a word consumers actively avoid.

Syrups and liquid sugars

• Agave nectar / agave syrup
• Blackstrap molasses
• Buttered syrup
• Caramel
• Carob syrup
• Corn syrup / corn syrup solids
• Golden syrup
• High-fructose corn syrup (HFCS)
• Honey (raw, manuka, clover, etc.)
• Maple syrup
• Molasses
• Refiner’s syrup
• Treacle

Note that honey and maple syrup are genuinely natural sweeteners with a long history of use, but for low-carb purposes they count exactly the same as table sugar — about 4g of carbohydrate per teaspoon.

Natural-sounding sugars

• Buttercream
• Castor sugar
• Confectioner’s sugar / powdered sugar
• Demerara sugar
• Diastatic malt
• Fruit puree (when used as a sweetener)
• Grape sugar
• Honeycomb
• Invert sugar
• Maple sugar
• Muscovado sugar
• Palm sugar
• Panela / panocha
• Raw sugar
• Sucanat
• Turbinado sugar
• Yellow sugar

Sugars ending in “-ose”

Anything ending in -ose is a sugar. The chemistry varies but the metabolic outcome is similar.

• Dextrose
• Fructose
• Galactose
• Glucose
• Lactose
• Maltose
• Sucrose
• Trehalose

The exception worth knowing about: cellulose ends in -ose but is fiber, not sugar. It passes through your body undigested.

Refined sugars

• Beet sugar
• Brown sugar
• Cane sugar
• Crystallized fructose
• Dehydrated cane juice
• Granulated sugar
• Inverted sugar
• Liquid fructose
• Sugar (the one we expect)
• White sugar

What about sugar alcohols?

Sugar alcohols are a separate category. Most are well-tolerated by people on low-carb diets, but maltitol is a notable exception (it does spike blood sugar). For details, see our complete sugar alcohols guide.

Sugar alcohol names to recognize on labels:

• Erythritol — keto-friendly, GI of 0
• Allulose — keto-friendly, very low GI
• Xylitol — moderate GI of about 13, generally low-carb friendly
• Sorbitol — GI of about 9, can cause GI distress
• Mannitol — moderate
• Maltitol — GI of 35-52, NOT keto-friendly despite being labeled a sugar alcohol
• Isomalt — moderate

Sneaky places sugar shows up

Beyond the obvious — soda, candy, dessert — sugar appears in surprising places.

Bread and bakery items

Most commercial breads contain at least some added sugar, used to feed the yeast and accelerate browning. Even “healthy” sounding breads often have 3-5g of sugar per slice. Always check the panel.

Salad dressings

Bottled dressings can contain 4-8g of sugar per serving. “Light” dressings are often higher in sugar to compensate for less fat. Vinaigrettes you make yourself contain zero. Read the label.

Pasta sauce and ketchup

Most jarred pasta sauces contain 5-9g of sugar per half-cup. Ketchup runs about 4g per tablespoon. These are sneaky because nobody thinks of them as sweet foods.

Yogurt

Flavored yogurts can have 15-25g of sugar per serving — more than some ice creams. Plain Greek yogurt has about 4g of natural lactose, which is genuinely fine on most low-carb plans.

Granola and “healthy” cereals

The granola section is where sugar quietly piles up. Most commercial granolas have 8-15g of sugar per half-cup. So-called “low sugar” cereals are usually still 6-8g per serving.

Plant-based milk

Almond milk, oat milk, and rice milk often have 7-15g of added sugar per cup unless you specifically buy the unsweetened version. Always check.

Protein bars and meal replacement bars

Most “healthy” bars contain 8-20g of sugar from a combination of dates, honey, fruit puree, brown rice syrup, and other “natural” sweeteners. If a bar tastes sweet, it almost certainly has added sugar in some form.

The 30-second sugar audit

For any product you’re considering:

1. Check the “added sugars” line on the nutrition facts panel. Anything over 4g per serving is a yellow flag.
2. Scan the ingredient list for any name on this page. If multiple sugar names appear, the manufacturer is likely splitting them to push each one further down the list.
3. Look at where sugar (in any form) appears. Top three ingredients = the product is fundamentally sweetened. Top five = sugar is a major ingredient. Bottom of the list = trace amount, generally fine.

The TrueCarbs app automates this audit and flags hidden sugar names instantly when you scan a label.

The bigger picture

The average American consumes about 17 teaspoons of added sugar per day. The American Heart Association recommends no more than 6 teaspoons (24g) for women and 9 teaspoons (36g) for men. Most of the gap between recommendation and reality comes from hidden sources, not from sugar people are choosing to add to coffee or baked goods.

The fastest path to lower sugar intake isn’t willpower — it’s label literacy. Once you recognize the names, you can’t unsee them. And once you stop buying products that sneak sugar in under three different names, the problem largely solves itself.

The cardiovascular cost of hidden sugar isn’t theoretical. A large 2014 study in JAMA Internal Medicine linked higher added-sugar intake to elevated cardiovascular mortality — and most of the sugar in the average American diet comes from processed foods, not the sugar bowl.

Frequently asked questions

Is honey better for me than sugar?

Marginally. Honey contains trace minerals and antioxidants that refined sugar lacks, and it’s slightly sweeter so you may use less. But for blood sugar and weight management purposes, honey behaves nearly identically to table sugar.

Is “organic cane sugar” healthier than regular sugar?

No meaningful difference. The “organic” certification refers to growing practices, not nutritional content. Your body processes both the same way.

What about coconut sugar — isn’t it low glycemic?

It has a glycemic index slightly lower than table sugar (about 54 vs 65), but the carb content per gram is the same. The “low glycemic” claim is overhyped — in real meal portions the difference is small.

Is fruit on the same list?

Whole fruit isn’t on this list because it comes packaged with fiber, water, and micronutrients that change how the sugar is absorbed. Fruit juice and fruit concentrate are different — those are essentially sugar water.

Should I avoid all sugar?

Not necessarily. Small amounts of sugar in an otherwise whole-food diet aren’t harmful for most people. The problem is that hidden sugar adds up quickly when you’re eating processed foods. Reading labels gives you control over the dose.

Related reading: Sugar Alcohols on Keto · How to Read a Nutrition Label in 30 Seconds · Glycemic Load vs Glycemic Index