Every name for sugar on a food label

Sugar is listed under at least 87 different names, which is exactly why it hides so well in food that looks healthy. Search the list, or read the groups to learn the patterns and stop needing the list.

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Showing all 107 names, including the sweeteners that are not sugar.

Read this part first, and you can mostly skip the list

Four rules catch the overwhelming majority of sugar on any label:

  1. Anything ending in -ose is sugar. Sucrose, dextrose, maltose, fructose. One glance down the ingredient list catches most of them.
  2. Any syrup is sugar. Corn, rice, tapioca, oat, malt, maple, agave. There is no syrup that is not a sugar.
  3. Ingredients are listed by weight. If any form of sugar sits in the first three ingredients, it is a main ingredient in that food, not a minor one.
  4. Count the sugars, not the sugar. A product can list four different sweeteners so that none of them individually ranks near the top. Add them together and the picture changes.

That fourth trick is the one worth carrying with you. It is the reason a granola bar can show sugar as the fifth ingredient and still be a quarter sugar by weight.

One thing that only applies in Canada

Since December 2016, Canadian regulations require every sugars-based ingredient in a packaged food to be grouped together in brackets after the word Sugars in the ingredient list, in order of weight. Manufacturers had until December 2022 to comply, so every label on the shelf now follows it. You will see something like:

Sugars (glucose-fructose, cane sugar, fancy molasses)

This is genuinely useful, and it quietly undoes the fourth trick above. It means the splitting game no longer works here: all the sweeteners are collected in one place where you can see them at once. Canada does this better than the United States does. What Canada does not have is the separate added sugars line the American nutrition panel carries, so the grouped bracket is the thing to read.

The other Canadian term worth knowing is glucose-fructose. That is high-fructose corn syrup. People scan for the American name, do not find it, and conclude the product does not contain any.

The plain ones

No disguise here. These are cane or beet sugar with a different grind, a different colour, or a fancier name. Nutritionally they are close enough to identical that the distinction is mostly a baking one.

  • SugarOn a Canadian label this means refined white cane or beet sugar.
  • Table sugarSame thing. Sucrose, half glucose and half fructose.
  • White sugarSame thing again.
  • Granulated sugarStandard white sugar, described by its grind.
  • Cane sugarSugar from cane rather than beet. Your body cannot tell.
  • Beet sugarSugar from sugar beets. Chemically the same sucrose.
  • Cane juiceSugar, worded to sound like a juice.
  • Evaporated cane juiceThe classic health food label term. The US FDA told manufacturers in 2016 to stop using it because it is not juice, it is sugar.
  • Cane crystalsSugar.
  • Raw sugarSlightly less refined. Trace minerals, no meaningful difference to blood sugar.
  • Turbinado sugarLarge golden crystals, still sucrose.
  • Demerara sugarSame idea as turbinado, coarser and a bit more molasses flavor.
  • Muscovado sugarDark, moist, high molasses content. Still sugar.
  • Brown sugarWhite sugar with molasses added back in.
  • Golden sugarLightly refined, marketed on the colour.
  • Yellow sugarA lighter brown sugar. Common on Canadian labels.
  • Icing sugarPowdered sugar, usually with a little cornstarch. The Canadian term.
  • Confectioner's sugarThe American name for icing sugar.
  • Powdered sugarSame again.
  • Caster sugarExtra fine granulated sugar, used in baking.
  • SucanatA brand name for dried whole cane juice.
  • PanelaUnrefined whole cane sugar, common in Latin American foods.
  • PiloncilloCone-shaped Mexican unrefined cane sugar.
  • JaggeryUnrefined cane or palm sugar, common in South Asian foods.

Anything ending in -ose

The chemistry names. If you learn one rule, learn this one: an ingredient ending in -ose is almost always a sugar. It is the fastest scan you can do on a label.

  • SucroseTable sugar under its chemical name. Glucose and fructose bonded together.
  • GlucoseThe sugar your blood carries and your cells burn. Raises blood sugar directly.
  • FructoseFruit sugar. Barely moves blood glucose because the liver handles almost all of it, which is a different problem rather than no problem.
  • Crystalline fructoseConcentrated fructose, usually made from corn. Common in drinks and bars.
  • DextroseGlucose, industrially produced. Very fast acting.
  • Anhydrous dextroseDried glucose. Same thing with the water removed.
  • MaltoseTwo glucose molecules. Found in malted foods and rice syrups.
  • LactoseMilk sugar. Naturally present in dairy, also used as an added ingredient.
  • GalactoseOne half of lactose.
  • TrehaloseUsed as a stabilizer and mild sweetener, especially in frozen and processed foods.
  • RiboseA sugar sold as a supplement, occasionally used as an ingredient.
  • SaccharoseAn older name for sucrose. Still turns up on imported labels.

Syrups

If it pours and it is sweet, it counts. Syrups are where a lot of sugar hides in sauces, bars, breads, and anything labelled chewy or soft baked.

  • Corn syrupMostly glucose. Extremely common in baked goods and sauces.
  • High-fructose corn syrupCorn syrup with some glucose converted to fructose. Usually 42 or 55 percent fructose.
  • Glucose-fructoseThis is what high-fructose corn syrup is called on Canadian labels. Worth memorizing if you shop in Canada, because most people scan for the American name and never find it.
  • Corn syrup solidsDried corn syrup. Common in coffee creamers and powdered mixes.
  • Glucose solidsDried glucose syrup.
  • Brown rice syrupMarketed as the natural option, but it is mostly maltose and glucose and raises blood sugar quickly.
  • Rice syrupSame as above.
  • Tapioca syrupA newer clean label favourite. Still glucose.
  • Oat syrupCommon in oat milk. Often the reason a plain oat milk tastes sweet with no sugar listed.
  • Malt syrupMade from barley, mostly maltose.
  • Barley maltSame source, used in breads and cereals.
  • Malt extractConcentrated malt sugars.
  • Diastatic maltMalted grain used in baking, contributes sugar.
  • Golden syrupInverted sugar syrup, common in British and Commonwealth recipes.
  • Refiner's syrupA byproduct of sugar refining, used as a sweetener.
  • Invert sugarSucrose split into glucose and fructose. Stays soft, so it is common in soft candy and icings.
  • Invert syrupThe liquid form of the same thing.
  • Sugar syrupDissolved sugar, sometimes called simple syrup.
  • Maple syrupMostly sucrose. Real minerals in trace amounts, still sugar to your bloodstream.
  • Sorghum syrupPressed from sorghum cane.
  • Carob syrupSweetener made from carob pods.
  • Yacon syrupHigher in prebiotic fiber than most syrups, which is a real difference, but it is still a sweetener.
  • Date syrupConcentrated dates. Some minerals, plenty of sugar.
  • Agave nectarRoughly 70 to 90 percent fructose. Low on the glycemic index precisely because the liver, not the bloodstream, deals with it.
  • Agave syrupThe same product under a second name.
  • MolassesA byproduct of sugar refining. Real iron and calcium content, still a sugar.
  • Blackstrap molassesThe most concentrated grade, the highest mineral content of any sugar on this list, and still a sugar.
  • Fancy molassesThe lighter, sweeter Canadian grade. Fewer minerals than blackstrap.
  • TreacleThe British term for molasses.

The ones that sound like health food

These are the names that do the most damage, because they are usually printed on the front of the package as a selling point. Every one of them is sugar. Some carry a little more nutrition than white sugar, and none carry enough to change what happens to your blood sugar.

  • HoneyRoughly 40 percent fructose and 30 percent glucose. Can still raise blood glucose substantially within an hour.
  • Honey powderDried honey, often blended with other sugars.
  • Coconut sugarAround 70 to 80 percent sucrose. The lower glycemic index often quoted comes from small studies, and the difference is modest.
  • Coconut nectarThe liquid version of coconut sugar.
  • Palm sugarMade from palm sap. Same story as coconut sugar.
  • Date sugarGround dried dates. This one genuinely keeps its fiber, which sets it slightly apart.
  • Maple sugarDried maple syrup.
  • Fruit juice concentrateJuice with the water boiled off, which leaves concentrated sugar with the fiber already gone.
  • Apple juice concentrateThe most common one, because it is cheap and tastes neutral.
  • Grape juice concentrateVery high in fructose.
  • Pear juice concentrateCommon in baby food and snack bars.
  • White grape juice concentrateA frequent stand-in for added sugar in products advertised as unsweetened.
  • Fruit juice crystalsDried juice concentrate.
  • Fruit juice solidsThe same, in powder form.
  • Cane syrupSugar cane juice, reduced.
  • CaramelWhen it appears as a sweetener rather than a colour, it is cooked sugar.

The technical ones most people walk past

These do not read as sugar, do not sound sweet, and in some cases are not counted on the sugar line of the nutrition panel at all. They still behave like sugar once you eat them.

  • MaltodextrinA starch broken into short glucose chains. Raises blood glucose as fast as or faster than table sugar, yet it is counted as a starch, not a sugar, on the nutrition panel. This is the single most useful name on this page to know.
  • DextrinThe same idea, a partially broken down starch.
  • Hydrolyzed starchStarch already split into sugars.
  • Modified food starchNot a sugar itself, but it digests to glucose quickly. Worth noticing on a label.
  • Sweet sorghumThe crop that sorghum syrup is pressed from.
  • Ethyl maltolA flavor compound, not a sugar, but it is used to make products taste sweeter than they are.

Sugar alcohols, which are not quite sugar

These are a real middle category rather than a trick. They are carbohydrates that taste sweet, carry fewer calories than sugar, and mostly have a smaller effect on blood glucose. They also cause bloating and digestive upset in a lot of people, which is the honest tradeoff.

  • ErythritolAlmost no calories and almost no blood sugar effect. A 2023 study in Nature Medicine found an association with cardiovascular events, which is an association rather than proof, but it is fair to say the picture is less settled than it looked five years ago.
  • XylitolRoughly two thirds the sweetness impact of sugar on blood glucose. Important: xylitol is severely toxic to dogs, even in small amounts.
  • SorbitolThe one most likely to cause digestive trouble. Common in sugar-free gum and candy.
  • MaltitolThe one to watch. It raises blood glucose meaningfully, more than most people expect from something labelled sugar-free.
  • MannitolSimilar to sorbitol, with the same digestive reputation.
  • IsomaltUsed in hard candy and sugar-free chocolate.
  • LactitolMade from lactose, mildly laxative.
  • Hydrogenated starch hydrolysatesA blended syrup of sugar alcohols. Often shortened to HSH on a label.

Sweeteners that are not sugar at all

These are here so you can rule them out rather than hunt for them. None of them are sugar and none of them raise blood glucose. That does not automatically make them the answer: the World Health Organization advised in 2023 against using non-sugar sweeteners as a weight control strategy, since the long-term evidence did not show the benefit people expect. One practical note: which sweeteners you can actually buy depends on where you live, since countries approve them separately. A sweetener sitting on every shelf in one country can be unavailable in the next one over.

  • SteviaFrom the stevia leaf. Zero calories, no blood sugar effect.
  • Steviol glycosidesWhat stevia is called in an ingredient list.
  • Monk fruitZero calories. Usually blended with erythritol, so check the full ingredient list.
  • Luo han guoThe other name for monk fruit extract.
  • SucraloseSold as Splenda. Zero calories, often bulked out with maltodextrin or dextrose in the packet form.
  • AspartameSold as Equal or NutraSweet.
  • Acesulfame potassiumListed as acesulfame-K or ace-K. Usually paired with another sweetener.
  • SaccharinThe oldest one, sold as Sweet’N Low.
  • NeotameA more intense relative of aspartame.
  • AdvantameEven more intense, used in tiny amounts.
  • AlluloseA rare sugar that tastes, dissolves, and bakes like real sugar with almost no calories and no meaningful blood sugar effect, and without the cooling aftertaste of erythritol or the digestive trouble of the sugar alcohols. Widely available in the United States, where it is exempt from the added sugars line on the label.
  • TagatoseAnother rare sugar, low calorie, minimal blood sugar effect.