Sneaky Sugars in Surprising Foods

If you’re trying to reduce your sugar consumption, the usual suspects include soda and desserts but what about marinara sauce? Unfortunately there are some foods that you don’t really think of as sweet that have a surprising amount of sugars added.

🍬 Marinara Sauce
Many of the big brands add sugar to their sauce, so check the labels or make your own by using plain tomato sauce and adding spices.

🍬 Ketchup
Another tomato-based food, ketchup can have 1 tsp of sugar in a 1 tbsp serving. Look for the new varieties that have less or no sugar added and give them a shot.

🍬 Barbecue Sauce
It’s very common for barbecue sauce to have even more sugar per serving than ketchup - 1.5 tsp per 1 tbsp serving in some cases. Just like ketchup, most brands have realized this is a lot and have varieties with little or no added sugar now.

🍬 Yogurt
Don’t let yogurt’s benefits be outweighed by added sugars. It’s natural for yogurt to contain some sugar due to lactose, but keep an eye out for the added stuff. Go with plain and sweeten it yourself with fruit or swirl in some jam so you can control how much goes into it.

🍬 Peanut Butter
This one can be tricky because even jars labeled as “Natural” doesn’t mean they only contain peanuts. Look for clues like “peanut butter spread” and that’ll tell you there’s things like sugar and palm oil added. Your ingredient list should be one or two things: peanuts and salt.

🍬 Non-Dairy Milk
Most plant-based milks have a few varieties so keep an eye out for the “no added sugar” ones as the “original” types may have 7g or more of added sugar. The calories add up pretty quick when you can drink them!

🍬 Packaged Fruit
Whether you’re going for applesauce, fruit cocktail, or even dried fruit, most of them have sugar added. Look for fruit that’s packed in water instead of heavy syrups. Dried fruits you wouldn’t think would need added sugar like mango or pineapple still often have more added.

🍬 Granola
The very name makes you think of health food, but check the label first, as granola is typically sweetened with honey, corn syrup, or brown sugar.

🍬 Broth
You wouldn’t suspect it just from the taste, but packaged broths and even bullion can contain added sugars.