Food

Sugar: the daily limit in numbers

For an adult, keep free sugars below 10 percent of daily energy, which is about 50 g on 2,000 kcal, and ideally below 5 percent, about 25 g or 6 teaspoons. That is the World Health Organization guideline of 2015; the NHS draws the adult line at 30 g a day (7 sugar cubes), with 24 g for children aged 7 to 10 and 19 g at 4 to 6. Free sugars means sugar added by a manufacturer, a cook or you, plus the sugar in honey, syrups and fruit juice; the sugar inside whole fruit, vegetables and plain milk does not count.

What the limits say, body by body

The reference point is the World Health Organization guideline on sugars intake, published on 4 March 2015. It makes two recommendations for adults and children alike: keep free sugars below 10 percent of total energy intake, graded a strong recommendation, and go further to below 5 percent, graded conditional. Sugar gives 4 kcal per gram, so 10 percent of a 2,000 kcal day is 200 kcal or 50 g, and 5 percent is 25 g, about 6 teaspoons.

The United Kingdom adopted the stricter figure. In its report on carbohydrates and health of 17 July 2015, the government's Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition set a population goal of no more than 5 percent of energy from free sugars, and the NHS states that recommendation as 30 g a day for adults and children from age 11, 24 g at 7 to 10 years, 19 g at 4 to 6, 14 g at 2 to 3 and 10 g at age 1. The European Food Safety Authority went a different way. Asked by five Nordic countries for a tolerable upper level, its panel concluded, in an opinion of 28 February 2022, that the risk of tooth decay and metabolic disease kept rising across all observed intakes, so no safe level could be set and added and free sugars should be as low as possible.

What counts as free sugar and what does not

All of these limits use the same definition. Free sugars are the monosaccharides and disaccharides (glucose, fructose, sucrose) added to food or drink by the manufacturer, the cook or the consumer, plus the sugars naturally present in honey, syrups, fruit juices and juice concentrates; the NHS adds nectars, smoothies and purees. Sugars held inside the cells of whole fruit and vegetables, and the lactose in plain milk and yoghurt, are not free sugars, and no guideline limits them. Once fruit is juiced or blended, the sugar is released, which is why the NHS caps juice and smoothies at 150 ml a day, taken with a meal.

Labels complicate this, because European nutrition panels declare total sugars, lactose and fruit sugar included, not free sugars. The NHS thresholds are still a useful sort: more than 22.5 g of total sugars per 100 g counts as high, 5 g or less as low, and the traffic light on the front of the pack uses the same cut-offs, with red also triggered above 27 g per portion. For a product without fruit or milk in it, total and free sugars are the same number. Otherwise read the ingredient list: the NHS names cane sugar, high-fructose corn syrup, maple and agave syrups, juice concentrate, honey, molasses and treacle, plus sucrose, glucose, fructose, dextrose and maltose.

The evidence behind the 10 percent and 5 percent lines

WHO built its recommendation on two commissioned systematic reviews. The body weight review, published in the BMJ in 2013, screened 7,895 trials and 9,445 cohort studies and kept 30 and 38. In 5 trials of adults eating freely, cutting free sugars lowered body weight by 0.80 kg (95 percent confidence interval 0.39 to 1.21); in 10 trials that added sugars, weight rose by 0.75 kg. In 11 trials that swapped sugars for other carbohydrates at equal calories, weight did not change (0.04 kg), so the effect works through extra energy rather than anything unique to sugar. Across 5 cohort studies of children followed for at least a year, the highest consumers of sugary drinks had 1.55 times the odds of being overweight or obese.

The dental review found 8 cohort studies in children; 5 could compare intakes above and below 10 percent of energy, and every one found more decay above the line. Three national studies from Japan showed less decay when sugar supply fell below 10 kg per person per year, about 5 percent of energy. WHO graded the 10 percent line as resting on moderate quality evidence and the 5 percent line on very low quality evidence, which is why the second is conditional; it found no harm from going below 5 percent, and noted that fluoride slows decay but does not stop it.

EFSA's 2022 panel, drawing on 49 randomised trials and 66 cohorts, rated the certainty of a causal link between added or free sugars and obesity or raised blood lipids as moderate (more than 50 to 75 percent probability), fatty liver and type 2 diabetes as low, and high blood pressure as very low; for sugar-sweetened drinks the certainty for obesity, type 2 diabetes, hypertension and cardiovascular disease was high. A US cohort of 11,733 adults followed for a median of 14.6 years, published in JAMA Internal Medicine in 2014, recorded 831 cardiovascular deaths: people getting 10 to 24.9 percent of calories from added sugar had a hazard ratio of 1.30 against those below 10 percent, and those at 25 percent or more had 2.75 (95 percent confidence interval 1.40 to 5.42). These are associations from self-reported diet: they support the direction of the limit, not an exact threshold.

Where the sugar comes from, and how far most people are from the line

Few populations sit near the 5 percent line. EFSA's compilation of national surveys puts mean free sugar intakes among adults aged 18 to 64 at 24 to 67 g a day for women and 29 to 86 g for men across 22 surveys, or 6 to 15 percent of energy, with the top 5 percent of consumers at 13 to 33 percent. Children aged 3 to 9 averaged 8 to 20 percent of energy from free sugars. In the United States, 71.4 percent of adults took 10 percent or more of calories from added sugar in 2005 to 2010, about 1 in 10 took 25 percent or more, and the mean was 14.9 percent.

Drinks do much of the damage. EFSA found that among the people who drink them, sugar-sweetened soft drinks and fruit drinks supplied 15 to about 50 percent of the added and free sugars those consumers ate; fruit juices, confectionery, table sugar and bakery goods are the other main contributors. The NHS examples show how fast a day's 30 g goes: a can of cola can carry as much as 9 cubes, about 36 g; a sweetened yoghurt up to 6 cubes, a chocolate bar 6, a fun-sized bag of sweets 5, an ice cream up to 5, a cereal bar 3 and a juice pouch 2. In England a child has a tooth removed in hospital every 10 minutes because of decay.

Cutting back without counting every gram, and who should ask first

You do not need a spreadsheet. Replace the sugary drink first; water, plain milk and unsweetened tea or coffee do the job, and the Plate Builder shows what fills a plate instead. Keep juice to one 150 ml glass with a meal, eat fruit whole, and treat honey, agave, maple syrup and coconut sugar as free sugars with the same limit. On packaged food, use the 5 g and 22.5 g per 100 g thresholds as your quick sort; much of it arrives inside ultra-processed food. Sweeteners are not the exit route: WHO's separate guideline on non-sugar sweeteners, published on 15 May 2023, advises against using them to control weight, because the trials it reviewed showed no long-term reduction in body fat, though that advice does not apply to people who already have diabetes.

Some people should adapt these numbers with a professional. If you take insulin or a sulfonylurea, sugar is also the treatment for a hypo, or low blood sugar, so any cut in your usual intake belongs alongside your care team's dosing advice. In pregnancy, and especially with gestational diabetes, follow your midwife's or dietitian's plan rather than a population limit. If you have a history of an eating disorder, gram counting can become its own problem, and the drink swap is enough. Under 18, use the age bands above. WHO states that its recommendations do not apply to anyone who needs sugar as part of a therapeutic diet.

Getting under 30 g without a calculator

Frequently asked

Is the limit 25 g, 30 g or 50 g?

All three are in use. WHO's strong recommendation is below 10 percent of energy, about 50 g on 2,000 kcal; its conditional suggestion is below 5 percent, about 25 g; and the NHS sets 30 g for adults from the same 5 percent target. Treat 50 g as the ceiling and 25 to 30 g as the aim.

Does the sugar in fruit count?

Not when you eat the fruit whole; its sugar sits inside the cells with fibre and water, and no guideline limits it. Once fruit is juiced or blended, the sugar is released and counts as free sugar, which is why the NHS caps juice and smoothies at 150 ml a day.

Is honey or agave syrup better than table sugar?

No. WHO's definition of free sugars includes the sugars in honey, syrups, fruit juices and juice concentrates, so they count towards the same 25 to 50 g limit, and the NHS names honey, maple, agave and golden syrup explicitly.

Are sweeteners a good way to get under the limit?

WHO's guideline on non-sugar sweeteners, published on 15 May 2023, advises against using them, aspartame, sucralose and stevia among them, to control weight, because the trials reviewed showed no long-term reduction in body fat. The advice does not apply to people with existing diabetes. Water and unsweetened drinks are the simpler swap.

How much sugar is in a can of cola?

The NHS says a can of cola can hold as much as 9 sugar cubes, which at about 4 g a cube is roughly 36 g. That is more than its adult limit of 30 g a day and well above WHO's 25 g target for 5 percent of energy.

What happens if I go below 5 percent?

WHO found no evidence of harm from reducing free sugars below 5 percent of energy, and EFSA advises as low as possible within an adequate diet. Sugar supplies energy but no other nutrients, so nothing is lost; the exception is anyone who needs sugar for medical reasons, such as treating low blood sugar.

Sources

• World Health Organization 2015: Guideline: Sugars intake for adults and children · Published 4 March 2015; below 10 percent of energy (strong) and below 5 percent (conditional, about 25 g or 6 teaspoons); 30 of 7,895 trials and 38 of 9,445 cohort studies; 0.80 kg, 0.75 kg, 0.04 kg and odds ratio 1.55; 8 dental cohort studies and 3 national studies from Japan; 4 kcal per gram; no evidence of harm below 5 percent
• NHS: Sugar: the facts · 5 percent of energy as the UK government target; 30 g for adults, 24 g at 7 to 10, 19 g at 4 to 6, 14 g at 2 to 3, 10 g at age 1; 150 ml juice limit; label thresholds 22.5 g and 5 g per 100 g and 27 g per portion; a can of cola up to 9 cubes
• NHS Healthier Families: Sugar · Cube counts for chocolate bars, yoghurts, sweets, ice cream, cereal bars and juice pouches; a child in England has a tooth removed in hospital every 10 minutes
• EFSA Panel on Nutrition, Novel Foods and Food Allergens 2022, EFSA Journal: Tolerable upper intake level for dietary sugars · Published 28 February 2022 at the request of five Nordic countries; no upper level could be set, intake as low as possible; certainty moderate for obesity and dyslipidaemia, high for sugar-sweetened beverages; 49 trials and 66 cohorts; free sugar intakes from tables 3 to 5 (grams by sex, percent of energy by age group); sugar-sweetened beverages 15 to about 50 percent of added and free sugars in consumers
• Yang et al. 2014, JAMA Internal Medicine: Added sugar intake and cardiovascular diseases mortality among US adults · NHANES III linked mortality cohort, 11,733 adults, median follow-up 14.6 years, 831 cardiovascular deaths; hazard ratios 1.30 for 10 to 24.9 percent and 2.75 for 25 percent or more of calories from added sugar versus below 10 percent; 71.4 percent of adults above 10 percent in 2005 to 2010

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This guide is for general information. It does not replace medical advice or an examination.