HOW MUCH SUGAR CAN YOU EAT?
It is advised that free sugars, which include sugars that are naturally present in honey, syrups, unsweetened fruit and vegetable juices, smoothies, and purées, should make up no more than 5% of the daily calories you consume from food and drink.
This means:
- Adults shouldn't consume more than 30 grams of free sugar each day (roughly equivalent to 7 sugar cubes)
- No more than 24g of free sugars should be consumed daily by children aged 7 to 10. (6 sugar cubes)
- No more than 19g of free sugars should be consumed daily by children ages 4 to 6. (5 sugar cubes).
- While there is no recommended upper limit for children under the age of 4, it is advised that they stay away from sugar-sweetened beverages and foods.
Try to LIMIT foods like desserts, cakes, cookies, chocolate, some fizzy drinks, and juice drinks all contain free sugars. We should try to limit these sweet foods. For instance, a can of cola may contain up to 9 sugar cubes, which is more than the adult daily allowance.
Naturally occurring sugars can also be found in meals including fruit, vegetables, and milk; however, we do not need to limit these sources of sugar.
Be aware that the "total sugars" number you'll see on food labels includes both of these and free sugars.
