Sugar Secrets #4: Sneaky Sugar Serving Sizes

Day four of the Sugar Secrets Series — time to shake things up with some sugar serving sizes!

Yesterday was all about the sneaky places that sugar likes to hide. But unfortunately there’s still one place that sugar hides out, and it’s its best hiding spot yet.

Right on the side of the box.

While it’s true that every morsel of sugar must be accounted for on nutritional labels for food, did you ever pay attention to the sugar serving sizes on some everyday products?

Example Number 1: Pop-Tarts

Pop-Tarts may come in packs of two, but a quick look at the nutrition label can be deceiving.

It may look like your pack of Pop-Tarts contains 15 grams of sugar. Not too bad, you think. That is, until you look at the serving size for the nutritional breakdown. That’s not 15 grams of sugar in one packet of Pop-Tarts, that’s 15 grams of sugar in one single Pop-Tart. (This is from the Frosted Brown Sugar Cinnamon variety, by the way.)

So every time you open up a pack of Pop-Tarts to have for breakfast, you’re consuming 30 grams of sugar. That’s 1/4 cup of the stuff. Can you imagine taking 1/4 cup of sugar and straight up eating it? Because I sure can’t.

Example Number 2: Fruit-Flavored Yogurt

Yogurt can be a great quick and healthy breakfast, but you definitely need to be careful with which brand you choose. Here’s the nutritional label found on the back of Noosa’s Lil’ Tub of Strawberry Yogurt.
 

In just a little cup of yogurt, you’re taking in 20 grams of sugar. Sure, some of that sugar comes from the strawberries, but the ingredient label also lists cane sugar as an added ingredient.

Fruit-flavored yogurts like these may seem like a healthy breakfast choice. However, The American Heart Association (AHA) sets its recommend sugar serving sizes at no more than 6 teaspoons (25 grams) of added sugar per day for women and 9 teaspoons (38 grams) for men. You do the math.

Instead of choosing a fruity yogurt for breakfast, I recommend picking a full fat plain version and sweetening it up yourself with some fresh or frozen berries! It’s a great hack — and it tastes delicious!

Your homework is to go to your cabinet and check the sugar content on foods you suspect may be tricking you. If you find any interesting ones, be sure to let me know!