Hidden sugar: 50+ names for sugar on food labels

Added sugar rarely calls itself "sugar". Learn the names it hides behind, and you'll spot it on any label in about ten seconds.

By the Sweet Nothing team · Updated October 5, 2026 · 8 min read

Why sugar has so many names

Sugar isn't one ingredient. It comes from cane, beets, corn, rice, coconut palms, maple trees, bees and fruit, and each source and process gets its own name. Some of those names sound like health food: "coconut nectar", "brown rice syrup", "evaporated cane juice". To your body, they're all sugar.

There's also a labeling trick. Ingredients are listed from most to least by weight. If a product used one kind of sugar, it might be the first ingredient. Split the same amount across three or four kinds, like glucose syrup, dextrose and fruit juice concentrate, and each one moves further down the list. The total sugar is the same. It just looks smaller.

The 10-second label check

1. Skip the front of the pack. Words like "natural", "wholesome" or "no refined sugar" are marketing. They don't mean no sugar.
2. Turn it over and read the ingredients. Scan for anything ending in -ose, any syrup, any nectar, and the words honey, molasses, malt, cane, sugar or juice concentrate.
3. Count them. One sugar name low on the list is a small amount. Three different sugar names is a sweet product in disguise.

That's it. After a week of doing this, you'll see the patterns without trying. If a word isn't on any list you know, look it up before you assume it's fine.

In Sweet Nothing: not sure about a food? Scan the barcode (product data from Open Food Facts) or take a photo of the food or its label. The food scanner tells you if it fits your goal, if you should avoid it, or if it's unsure, and why. When the ingredient list is clear, trust the label.

The full list of names for sugar

Here are 62 names for added sugar you'll find on ingredient lists, grouped so they're easier to remember. You don't need to memorize them all. Learn the patterns in each group and the rest will jump out at you.

Names ending in -ose (6)

The "-ose" ending is chemistry for sugar. These are the most common ones you'll see added to food:

• Sucrose (table sugar)
• Glucose
• Dextrose
• Fructose
• Crystalline fructose
• Maltose

Sugars by any other name (21)

If the word "sugar" is in the name, it's sugar, however natural, raw or unrefined it sounds.

Cane products with other names (5)

These come from sugar cane too, under names that don't say "sugar":

• Evaporated cane juice
• Cane juice crystals
• Panela
• Rapadura
• Jaggery

Syrups (16)

Any syrup is a liquid sugar. Some are made from corn or rice, which makes them easy to miss.

Honey, nectars and molasses (6)

• Honey
• Agave nectar
• Coconut nectar
• Molasses
• Blackstrap molasses
• Treacle

Malt and starch-based sweeteners (3)

• Barley malt
• Malt extract
• Maltodextrin

Fruit-based sugars (4)

Juice concentrate is fruit with the fiber taken out and the water boiled off. What's left is mostly sugar, and WHO counts the sugar in fruit juice as free sugar, the same as added sugar.

• Fruit juice concentrate
• Apple juice concentrate
• Grape juice concentrate
• Concentrated fruit juice

And one more: caramel (1)

When caramel is listed as a food (in a filling, a sauce or pieces), it's cooked sugar. Caramel color used only for color is a different thing, but where you see caramel pieces or caramel sauce, there's sugar.

Front-of-pack claims that don't mean "no sugar"

The front of a pack is designed to sell. Here's what common claims do and don't tell you:

• "Natural" or "all natural": honey, maple syrup and coconut sugar are all natural. Natural doesn't mean sugar-free.
• "No refined sugar": usually means the product uses honey, syrups, dates or coconut sugar instead. It's still sugar.
• "No added sugar": can still mean the product is sweetened with fruit juice concentrate, or with sweeteners. Read the list.
• "Light", "zero" or "diet": often means sugar was swapped for sweeteners. See why we skip sweeteners too.
• "Protein", "high fiber", "keto" or "fitness": these say what's in the product, not what isn't. Many bars and shakes still contain syrups or sweeteners.
• "Made with real fruit": the fruit may be a small part. The rest can be sugar and juice concentrate.

Where hidden sugar hides

Candy and soda are obvious. Hidden sugar is the kind in food you don't think of as sweet. These are the usual suspects:

• Sauces and dressings: ketchup, BBQ sauce, teriyaki, sweet chili, many pasta sauces and salad dressings.
• Breakfast cereals and granola: even the plain-looking ones, and granola is often sweetened with honey or syrup.
• Cereal bars, granola bars and protein bars: syrups are often what holds them together.
• Bread and wraps: many packaged loaves have a little added sugar.
• Flavored yogurt and milk drinks: plain yogurt has natural milk sugar; the flavored kind usually has added sugar on top.
• "Healthy" snacks and drinks: smoothies, juices, kombucha, plant milks and anything marketed as a wellness product.
• Ready meals and soups: sugar balances acidity and salt, so it shows up in savory food too.
• Alcohol and mixers: cocktails, liqueurs, ciders, tonic and cola. More in day 18 of the 30-day challenge.

The fix is usually simple: plain versions exist for almost all of these. Plain yogurt with berries, oats you sweeten with fruit, olive oil and lemon instead of a sweet dressing.

What this means for your goal

How strict you need to be depends on what "no sugar" means for you. In Sweet Nothing, there are two goals:

• No sweets & sweet drinks: you cut candy, desserts, pastries, soda, juice and sweeteners. Savory packaged food with a little sugar on the label is OK. Label reading is mostly about drinks and "healthy" sweet snacks.
• No added sugar: any of the names above means no. This is where label reading really matters, especially for sauces, cereals, bars, bread and flavored yogurt.

Whole fruit and plain dairy are fine at both goals. The natural sugar in them isn't the problem: WHO doesn't count it as free sugar. Not sure how much sugar is too much? Read how much sugar per day is OK, or start with our step-by-step plan to quit sugar.

In Sweet Nothing: day 5 of the 30-day program is all about reading labels, with a small task: check the ingredient list of three foods in your kitchen and find any sugar names. See how the app works.

Questions people ask