A participant that attended my recent senior center webinar emailed me with this great question:
Question: Is the added sugar that is listed included in the total sugar amount or do I need to add it to the sugar amount to determine how much sugar is in the item?? I would appreciate it if you could clear this up for me.
Answer: Great question! It certainly can be confusing, especially since there are currently two labels being used. Large companies are using FDA’s new food label on the right in the picture below, and smaller companies have until January 2021 to implement the new label. On the new food label, there is an area for total sugar and added sugar. The added sugar is what companies added to the product, not what is inherent in the food source. On the old label (below, left), which some companies are still using, the added sugar row is not on the label, only total sugar. In this case, looking through the ingredient list is the way to see if any sugars have been added. Also, in the new food label, the total sugar includes the added sugar, so you DO NOT need to add it to the total. Hope this is helpful.
