Food labels are designed to inform — but they can also mislead. Sugar is one of the most common ingredients that hides in plain sight. Understanding how to read a label properly is one of the most practical health skills you can learn.
Food labels in the UK have two places where sugar information appears: the nutrition table (showing total sugars per 100g) and the ingredient list (showing individual sugar ingredients by name).
The nutrition table tells you how much sugar. The ingredient list tells you how many different sugars and where they sit in the recipe. A product with 3–4 different sugar ingredients is a red flag — even if each one appears low on the list.
Ingredients are listed in descending order by weight. If multiple sugars appear in the first five ingredients, sugar is likely one of the main components of the product.
Here's a typical ingredient list. Sugar ingredients are highlighted.
Ingredients
Glucose-Fructose Syrup
Hidden sugar — a blend of glucose and fructose syrups
Honey
Obvious sugar — still counts as added sugar
Barley Malt Extract
Hidden sugar — sweet syrup from malted grain
Dextrose
Hidden sugar — another name for glucose, from corn
This product contains 4 sugar ingredients — but none of them appear as the first ingredient. Sugar is effectively the second-largest component when combined.
Splitting sugar across multiple names
Using glucose syrup, dextrose, and honey separately so none appears first in the ingredient list.
Natural-sounding names
"Agave nectar", "date syrup", and "fruit juice concentrate" sound healthy but are concentrated sugar.
"No added sugar" marketing
Products can claim "no added sugar" while containing fruit juice concentrate — which is functionally sugar.
Technical / chemical names
Maltodextrin, dextrose, and levulose are all sugar — but they sound like chemistry, not food.
Ends in '-ose' = sugar
Glucose, fructose, dextrose, maltose, sucrose, lactose — all sugars.
Contains 'syrup' = sugar
Glucose syrup, corn syrup, rice syrup, agave syrup — all concentrated sweeteners.
Multiple sugars = red flag
More than one sugar in the ingredient list means sugar is being split to appear lower.
Found these on a label?
Paste any ingredient list and our tool will find every sugar alias — obvious and hidden.
SpikeSaver scans every product for hidden sugars — no label reading needed.
Plus NOVA classification, glucose impact, and keto suitability — all while you browse.
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