Sugar in snacks
How much sugar is in snacks that look healthy?
Fruit pouches, flavoured yogurts, cereal bars: it’s worth looking beyond the front of the pack.
When shopping, it’s easy to pick up a yogurt, fruit pouch or cereal bar with “wholegrain” on the wrapper. They can all have a place in family meals. To understand your choice, look at the serving size, nutrition table and ingredients. Together, they tell you more than the message on the front.
Names you might see on the label
Sugar can also appear among the ingredients as dextrose, fructose, glucose syrup or invert sugar syrup. These names describe different ingredients, so it’s worth reading the full list. The “of which sugars” row in the nutrition table shows total sugars, not just added sugar.
From grams to teaspoons
One teaspoon of sugar is about 4 grams. If a serving contains 12 grams of sugars, that’s roughly 3 teaspoons. This comparison helps you picture the quantity; it doesn’t tell you on its own whether a food fits your child’s meals. Check the serving size too.
What the daily limit actually is
For a school-age child, the guidance works out at roughly 25g a day — about six teaspoons — as a ceiling, and less is better still. That counts the sugar a manufacturer puts in as well as the sugar in fruit juice and syrups, so juice counts against it. Many popular children's snacks contain half of that in a single serving. For children under two, the advice is none at all.
Information to help you choose
Forkpie helps you make sense of quantities and offers an idea for next time. You can try another snack or keep a favourite. What matters is understanding what it contains and choosing in the context of your family’s meals.
4 g ≈ 1 teaspoon
Divide grams of sugars by four for an approximate comparison in teaspoons. Check whether the value on the label is for 100 g or for the portion you’re serving.
Try Sugar Detective for free
Forkpie offers explanations and ideas. You choose what suits your child and your family.
How Forkpie helps
Start with the information on the label
This is a label-reading example: the amount shown is per 100 ml. The photograph and explanation here are not a new Sugar Detective result.
In the tool, you can upload a photo of a snack or its label for an estimate.
A curious helper at mealtimes
Kipi is Forkpie’s mascot: a little detective who helps you explore what’s on the plate.
The value printed on the photographed label.
More clarity about your child’s meals
Try Forkpie for explanations about the meals you photograph and ideas for next time.
Free while we’re testing. You create your account in the app.
On iPhone, the link takes you to TestFlight first: Apple’s app for trying apps that are still in testing.