In the blog This is how you recognize sugars on the label you read how you recognize sugar, and all names that manufacturers use for sugar, on the ingredients list on the label. But you can also check the nutritional value table and thus be more aware of your sugar intake. In this blog you read how to scan the nutritional value table.

 Nutritional value table

 All sugars are listed under carbohydrates in the nutrition value table. These are all sugars in your food. So also naturally occurring sugars, such as sugars in dairy and fruit.

 Compare products

What can you do with the nutrition value table? In the table you can read how much sugar the product contains. This is useful for comparing products. Take two products, for example two packs of muesli, brand X and Y. Turn the package over, read the label and choose the product with the least sugar.

How much sugar can you eat per day?

The advice of the World Health Organization for women is to get a maximum of 50 grams of added sugar every day. For men that is 60 grams. These are sugars (including honey, syrups and fruit juices) that have been added by the manufacturer. This advice is intended to prevent overweight and tooth decay.

There is no guideline for how many naturally occurring sugars you can eat per day. This is because vegetables, fruit and dairy products also contain natural sugars, but these products fall into the Schijf van Vijf and therefore have no guideline.

The Voedingscentrum uses a reference of the total sugar intake, both added and naturally occurring sugars. You can see this as what is normal to eat for sugar every day. The reference intake is 90 grams of sugar per day.

Want to read more about sugar and healthy food? Read the blog This is how you recognize sugars on the label.