Total Sugar vs Added Sugar: What Nutrition Labels Mean
Author: Ukrainian Psychological Hub · Published: September 29, 2026 · Editorial Policy
Total Sugars and Added Sugars are not two separate amounts that should be added together. On a U.S. Nutrition Facts label, Total Sugars is the full amount of sugar in one serving, while Added Sugars is the portion of that total that meets the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s definition of added sugar. If a label says “Total Sugars 15 g” and directly below it says “Includes 7 g Added Sugars,” the serving contains 15 grams of sugar in all: 7 grams are added sugars and the remaining 8 grams are sugars not counted as added. The FDA states this explicitly: the word “Includes” means the added-sugar grams are already included in Total Sugars.
That single relationship resolves the most common label-reading error. The rest of the label becomes easier once you treat Added Sugars as a nested category inside Total Sugars rather than as an extra line to add on top.
This article explains the U.S. Nutrition Facts meaning of total sugar versus added sugar, how to read grams and % Daily Value, how serving size changes the numbers, why “0 g Added Sugars” does not mean “0 g Total Sugars,” how ingredient lists fit into the picture, and why the FDA concept of Added Sugars is not identical to the World Health Organization’s concept of free sugars. It also explains a genuine psychological problem built into the label: people must understand a part-to-whole relationship while also resisting intuitive shortcuts created by wording, claims, and serving sizes.
Total Sugar vs Added Sugar: The Short Answer
On the U.S. Nutrition Facts label:
• Total Sugars = all sugars in one serving, including sugars naturally present in ingredients plus any added sugars.
• Added Sugars = the part of Total Sugars that is classified as added under FDA rules.
• Do not add Total Sugars and Added Sugars together. Added Sugars is already included in Total Sugars.
• Total Sugars has no % Daily Value because the FDA has not established a Daily Value for total sugars.
• Added Sugars does have a % Daily Value. The FDA Daily Value is 50 grams on a 2,000-calorie reference diet.
• “0 g Added Sugars” can still appear next to a positive Total Sugars number when the food contains sugars that are not classified as added, such as lactose naturally present in milk or sugars naturally present in intact fruit ingredients.
• A food can have Total Sugars equal to Added Sugars when essentially all of its sugar is counted as added.
• FDA Added Sugars and WHO free sugars are related but not interchangeable terms; fruit juice is an important example of where the concepts can diverge.
What Does Total Sugars Mean on a Nutrition Facts Label?
Total Sugars is the broad sugar quantity shown for one labeled serving. According to the FDA’s Nutrition Facts guidance, it includes sugars naturally present in foods such as milk and fruit as well as any added sugars present in the product.
The phrase does not identify one specific molecule. “Sugar” can refer to several mono- and disaccharides. Sucrose, glucose, fructose, lactose, and other simple sugars can contribute to the Total Sugars number. If you want the chemical distinction between table sugar and other sugars, the English Hub’s Sucrose: What It Is and How It Differs From Glucose and Fructose explains that narrower chemistry.
Total Sugars is also not the same thing as Total Carbohydrate. Sugars are carbohydrates, but a food’s Total Carbohydrate can also include starch and dietary fiber. The distinction matters especially for mixed foods such as cereal, yogurt, bread, sauces, and baked products. For that category boundary, see Sugar vs Carbohydrates: What Is the Difference?
A useful mental model is: Total Carbohydrate is the larger carbohydrate category; Total Sugars is a sugar category within it; Added Sugars is a source-based category within Total Sugars.
What Does Added Sugars Mean on a Nutrition Facts Label?
Added Sugars is a regulatory category. The FDA defines added sugars as sugars added during food processing or packaged as such, including free mono- and disaccharides, sugars from syrups and honey, and certain sugars from concentrated fruit or vegetable juices when they exceed what would be expected from the same volume of 100% juice of the same type.
The category includes familiar ingredients such as sucrose and dextrose when they are added during processing, as well as products packaged as sweeteners. A bag of table sugar is therefore relevant to added-sugar intake even though no separate sweetener was “added to” the sugar inside the bag. The label category describes how the sugar enters the food supply and diet, not whether a second sugar ingredient was mixed into the product.
For the complete Added Sugars definition, hidden-source examples, manufacturer calculation rules, and label psychology, see Added Sugar: What It Is, Where It Hides, and How Labels Count It.
At the same time, naturally occurring sugars in milk, intact fruits, and vegetables are not counted as Added Sugars merely because they are sugars. Lactose naturally present in milk is a clear example; the English Hub article Lactose: What It Is and Why Milk Sugar Is Different explains the milk-sugar chemistry and why lactose is a distinct sugar.
The phrase “naturally occurring” can become slippery in ordinary conversation, so the label should be read according to the FDA rule rather than according to whether an ingredient sounds natural. Honey and maple syrup can feel “natural” to consumers, yet the FDA’s Added Sugars framework includes sugars from honey and syrups when they function as sweeteners in the diet. For the dedicated source-and-label comparison, see Natural Sugar vs Added Sugar: What Is the Difference?.
Fruit juice concentrate is a regulatory edge case
Concentrated fruit or vegetable juice requires more precision than a slogan such as “fruit sugar is natural.” FDA rules distinguish uses of concentrate. Sugars from concentrated juice used beyond the amount expected from the equivalent volume of 100% juice can count as Added Sugars, while specified uses and 100% juice concentrates sold to consumers are treated differently. This is one reason a label category cannot be reconstructed reliably from the front of the package alone.
What Does “Includes X g Added Sugars” Actually Mean?
The word “Includes” is doing important mathematical work. It tells you that the Added Sugars line is a subset of the Total Sugars line above it. The FDA’s own yogurt example lists 15 grams of Total Sugars and 7 grams of Added Sugars. The interpretation is 15 grams total, of which 7 grams are added; the other 8 grams are not added sugars under the labeling definition.
The wrong calculation is 15 + 7 = 22 grams. The correct reading is 15 grams total.
This nested structure is easy to miss because nutrition labels visually present information line by line. Readers often treat neighboring lines as separate quantities. Here, however, the indentation and the word “Includes” signal hierarchy rather than addition.
Three Label Examples That Make the Difference Clear
Example 1: Flavored yogurt
Suppose one serving shows:
• Total Sugars: 15 g
• Includes 7 g Added Sugars: 14% DV
The serving contains 15 grams of sugar in total. Seven grams are added sugars. The remaining 8 grams are sugars not classified as added, which in yogurt can include lactose naturally present in milk. This mirrors the FDA’s teaching example. For a full yogurt-specific guide to natural lactose, added sugar, serving sizes, and label interpretation, see Sugar in Yogurt: Natural Lactose, Added Sugar, and Labels.
Example 2: Plain dairy product
Suppose one serving shows:
• Total Sugars: 9 g
• Includes 0 g Added Sugars: 0% DV
The product still contains 9 grams of sugar. The label is telling you that none of those grams are classified as Added Sugars. “Zero added” is therefore not the same statement as “zero total.”
Example 3: A product in which all sugar is added
Suppose one serving shows:
• Total Sugars: 12 g
• Includes 12 g Added Sugars: 24% DV
The serving contains 12 grams of sugar total, and all 12 grams are counted as added. Again, there is no second 12 grams to add.
Can You Subtract Added Sugars From Total Sugars?
As a practical reading shortcut, yes: Total Sugars minus Added Sugars gives the approximate grams of sugar in the serving that are not classified as added. In the FDA yogurt example, 15 g total minus 7 g added equals 8 g not added.
Treat that result as label arithmetic, not as a laboratory identification of individual sugar molecules. Nutrition Facts values are subject to regulatory rounding, and the remainder does not tell you which specific sugars make it up. A remainder of 8 grams could include lactose, fructose, glucose, sucrose naturally present in an ingredient, or a mixture, depending on the food.
The current federal nutrition-labeling regulation permits small Added Sugars amounts to be displayed with regulatory rounding. Added Sugars is expressed to the nearest gram; below 1 gram, “less than 1 gram” may be used, and below 0.5 gram the amount may be expressed as zero. That means subtraction is useful for everyday interpretation but should not be mistaken for analytical chemistry.
Why Does Total Sugars Have No % Daily Value?
Total Sugars usually appears as grams without a % Daily Value. This is intentional, not a missing field. The FDA explains that no Daily Reference Value has been established for Total Sugars because no recommendation has been made for a single total amount of all sugars to eat in a day.
This makes sense within the label’s category structure. Total Sugars combines sugars from very different food contexts: for example, lactose naturally present in milk, sugars naturally present in fruit ingredients, and sugars added as sweeteners. The label therefore reports the amount but does not attach one daily percentage target to the combined category.
Why Does Added Sugars Have a % Daily Value?
Added Sugars has a Daily Value because the Nutrition Facts label provides a reference amount for this category. The FDA lists 50 grams as 100% of the Daily Value for Added Sugars on a 2,000-calorie reference diet.
That allows the %DV column to translate grams into a common reference scale. Seven grams of Added Sugars corresponds to 14% DV; 10 grams corresponds to 20% DV; 25 grams corresponds to 50% DV.
The FDA’s general %DV guide classifies 5% DV or less per serving as low and 20% DV or more as high. These are label-reading reference points. They are not individualized prescriptions for a particular person, and the serving size still matters.
Serving Size Comes Before Sugar Interpretation
Every sugar number on the Nutrition Facts label refers to the labeled serving size. The FDA instructs readers to start with servings per container and serving size because eating two servings generally means consuming about twice the listed amount of Total Sugars, Added Sugars, calories, and other nutrients.
A package can therefore look modest in sugar per serving while delivering substantially more sugar if the amount actually eaten is two or three servings. Conversely, a product with a larger labeled serving can look higher than another product even when a like-for-like amount is similar. This is why comparisons work best when serving sizes are comparable.
Serving size is a labeling reference based on amounts people typically consume; the FDA emphasizes that it is not a recommendation of how much a person should eat. Confusing those two meanings creates another common interpretation error.
How the Ingredient List Helps — and What It Cannot Tell You
The Nutrition Facts panel answers “how much?” The ingredient list helps answer “from what ingredients?” The FDA requires ingredients to be listed in descending order of predominance by weight, subject to applicable labeling rules and exemptions.
Seeing cane sugar, corn syrup, honey, dextrose, molasses, or another sweetening ingredient can help you identify sources of added sugar. But the ingredient list does not usually tell you how many grams of sugar came from each ingredient. The Added Sugars line supplies the combined regulated amount per serving.
The ingredient list also should not be turned into a simple “first three ingredients” morality rule. Ingredient order is useful information about weight, yet foods differ in water content, serving size, formulation, nutrient density, and eating context. The Nutrition Facts panel and ingredient list answer different questions and work best when read together.
Does “0 g Added Sugars” Mean the Food Is Sugar-Free?
No. “0 g Added Sugars” answers a narrow question: how much sugar in the serving is classified as added under FDA rules. A product can contain naturally occurring sugars and therefore have positive Total Sugars while showing 0 g Added Sugars.
This distinction matters in milk, unsweetened yogurt, fruit-containing foods, and other products whose ingredients contribute sugars without those sugars being classified as added. A zero on the Added Sugars line does not erase the Total Sugars line above it.
It also prevents a common health-halo shortcut. A front-of-package message such as “no added sugar” can be true while a food still contains sugar, calories, or other nutrients relevant to the reader. The claim should be interpreted at the exact scope it states rather than expanded into “sugar-free,” “low calorie,” or “healthier overall.”
Can Total Sugars Be High While Added Sugars Is Zero?
Yes. A food can have a substantial Total Sugars value and 0 g Added Sugars if its sugars come from ingredients whose sugars are not classified as added under FDA rules. The label is separating total quantity from regulatory source category.
This is why Total Sugars and Added Sugars answer different questions. Total Sugars tells you how much sugar is present in the serving. Added Sugars tells you how much of that total belongs to the FDA’s added-sugar category.
Can Added Sugars Equal Total Sugars?
Yes. If all or nearly all of the sugar in a serving is classified as added, the two gram values can be the same. A label could show 20 g Total Sugars and “Includes 20 g Added Sugars.” The serving still contains 20 grams total, not 40.
Because Added Sugars is nested inside Total Sugars, an ordinary correctly interpreted label does not make Added Sugars a second independent quantity. Small rounding effects and special labeling rules can complicate how displayed numbers look at very low amounts, but the conceptual relationship remains part-to-whole.
Single-Ingredient Sugar, Honey, and Syrup Labels Are a Special Case
Pure table sugar, pure honey, pure maple syrup, and other single-ingredient sugars and syrups created a labeling communication problem: saying “Includes X g Added Sugars” can sound as if some other sugar was added to the product. The FDA therefore permits a special presentation for these products.
According to the FDA’s single-ingredient sugar and syrup guidance, these labels still communicate the product’s contribution to the Added Sugars Daily Value, while the gram declaration can be handled differently from an ordinary multi-ingredient food. The point is to preserve dietary information without falsely implying that an outside sweetener was added to pure honey, maple syrup, or table sugar.
FDA Added Sugars and WHO Free Sugars Are Not the Same Term
Added Sugars is the U.S. labeling category used on Nutrition Facts panels. Free sugars is a public-health term used by the World Health Organization. The categories overlap substantially, but they are not identical and should not be substituted for each other.
The WHO definition of free sugars includes monosaccharides and disaccharides added to foods and beverages by the manufacturer, cook, or consumer, plus sugars naturally present in honey, syrups, fruit juices, and fruit juice concentrates. For a dedicated explanation of the WHO category and its boundary with U.S. labeling, see Free Sugars: What the Term Means and How It Differs From Added Sugar.
The practical consequence is important. A 100% fruit juice can have 0 g Added Sugars on a U.S. Nutrition Facts label while its juice sugars are still counted as free sugars in the WHO framework. This is not a contradiction. The two systems are answering different regulatory and public-health questions.
WHO’s guideline on sugars intake for adults and children is therefore about free sugars, not the FDA label category of Total Sugars. When comparing guidance across organizations, matching the sugar definition is essential before comparing numbers.
Why the Distinction Matters for Health — Without Turning the Label Into a Diagnosis
The label distinction is useful because it separates a broad quantity, Total Sugars, from a source-based category that public-health guidance specifically addresses, Added Sugars. The FDA explains that high intakes of calories from added sugars can make it harder to meet nutrient needs while staying within calorie limits.
That does not mean the Nutrition Facts panel can diagnose a health condition or tell an individual what treatment they need. A label is a standardized information tool. It does not incorporate a person’s medical history, total diet, energy needs, medications, symptoms, or clinical goals.
It is also a mistake to infer that two foods with the same Total Sugars number are nutritionally identical. Foods differ in fiber, protein, fat, micronutrients, physical structure, energy density, portion size, and the rest of their ingredients. Sugar numbers are important information, but they are not a complete nutritional verdict.
For a broader explanation of calories, carbohydrates, and sugar categories on labels, see Sugar Nutrition Facts: Calories, Carbohydrates, and Added Sugars. For the wider ingredient, chemistry, use, health, and psychology overview, see Sugar: What It Is, Types, Uses, Health, and Psychology.
The Psychology of Why Total vs Added Sugar Is Confusing
The total-versus-added distinction is technically simple once explained, yet it asks the reader to perform several cognitive operations at once: recognize a hierarchy, remember that one number is included inside another, notice serving size, interpret a percentage for only one of the two sugar lines, and separate a regulatory category from everyday language about “natural” sugar.
Research supports the idea that this is a genuine comprehension problem rather than merely careless reading. In a U.S. randomized experiment of 2,509 adults, Khandpur, Graham, and Roberto (2017) found that the format used to display Added Sugars changed understanding; presentations that supplied interpretive information such as %DV or high/medium/low cues could reduce the mental work required to interpret the grams.
A later randomized experiment of 1,156 U.S. adults by Khandpur, Rimm, and Moran (2020) found that the updated Nutrition Facts label improved understanding of added-sugar content compared with the earlier label, although purchase intentions did not shift uniformly across products. That distinction matters: better comprehension is evidence about understanding, not proof that one label automatically changes every buying decision.
Another study comparing original and updated labels found a different pattern. Kim, Ellison, Prescott, and Nayga (2021) reported that the updated label did not significantly improve overall objective comprehension in their sample, and participants had particular difficulty with questions involving total and added sugars. The evidence therefore supports a nuanced conclusion: the added-sugar line can improve access to useful information, while the nested relationship itself still creates room for misunderstanding.
A systematic review of nutrition-label education found that educational interventions improved at least one measure of label understanding or use across the included studies, although interventions and outcomes varied. This makes a practical point for label design: disclosure and comprehension are separate steps. Information can be present and still require explanation.
Framing: why “added” can dominate attention
The word “added” is psychologically salient because it suggests an action: someone put something into the food. That can make Added Sugars feel like the only sugar number that matters, even though Total Sugars still describes the full quantity in the serving. The reverse shortcut also occurs: some readers see a high Total Sugars number and ignore the fact that the product may have 0 g Added Sugars.
A more accurate reading treats the two lines as complementary. Total answers the quantity question. Added answers the category-within-the-total question.
Health halo: why one favorable claim can spread too far
A health halo occurs when one favorable attribute influences the evaluation of the whole product. In this context, “0 g Added Sugars” or “no added sugar” can invite an unjustified leap to “low in sugar,” “low calorie,” or “healthy overall.” Those conclusions require additional information.
The reverse halo is also possible. Seeing a relatively high Total Sugars number can make a food appear equivalent to a sweetened product even when much of its sugar comes from milk or fruit ingredients and the products differ substantially in fiber, protein, micronutrients, or overall formulation. The label works best when a single line is not asked to carry the meaning of the entire food.
Serving-size perception: a number is never independent of its denominator
A label can make a number feel small because the serving is small. It can also make a product look unusually high because the labeled serving is large. The FDA’s serving-size instructions are therefore part of sugar literacy, not a separate topic. Before comparing grams or %DV, check whether the products are being compared on a similar serving basis.
Evidence connecting label use with diet is broadly supportive but not simple. A systematic review by Anastasiou, Miller, and Dickinson (2019) found that Nutrition Facts label use was often associated with healthier dietary patterns, while also noting limited or inconsistent evidence for some label components and the difficulty of drawing causal conclusions from a literature dominated by cross-sectional studies. A label can support decisions; it does not mechanically determine them.
A Reliable Way to Read the Sugar Lines in 20 Seconds
Use this sequence whenever you pick up a packaged food:
1. Check the serving size. Every gram and %DV on the panel refers to that amount.
2. Read Total Sugars. This is the full sugar quantity per serving.
3. Read “Includes X g Added Sugars.” This is the portion of the total classified as added.
4. Do not add the two numbers. The added amount is already inside the total.
5. Use Added Sugars %DV for context. FDA’s general guide treats 5% DV or less as low and 20% DV or more as high per serving.
6. If useful, subtract Added Sugars from Total Sugars to estimate the amount not classified as added, remembering that rounding can affect very small values.
7. Scan the ingredient list if you want to know which sweetening ingredients are present.
8. Compare like with like. Similar foods with comparable serving sizes produce more meaningful comparisons than unrelated products with very different serving bases.
9. Keep claims in scope. “No added sugar” does not automatically mean sugar-free, calorie-free, or nutritionally superior overall.
10. Keep terminology in scope. FDA Added Sugars is not identical to WHO free sugars.
Common Mistakes When Reading Total and Added Sugar
Mistake 1: Adding the two lines together
If the label says 15 g Total Sugars and 7 g Added Sugars, the total is 15 g, not 22 g.
Mistake 2: Treating 0 g Added Sugars as 0 g sugar
A food can contain naturally occurring or otherwise non-added sugars and still show 0 g Added Sugars. Read Total Sugars for the full sugar amount.
Mistake 3: Looking for a %DV next to Total Sugars
There is no established Daily Value for Total Sugars on the U.S. Nutrition Facts label. The %DV belongs to Added Sugars.
Mistake 4: Comparing products without checking serving size
Per-serving numbers are meaningful only in relation to the serving. A smaller listed serving can make the same food appear lower at a glance.
Mistake 5: Assuming “natural” means “not added”
Everyday naturalness language and FDA classification are different systems. Honey and syrups can count toward Added Sugars even when consumers perceive them as natural sweeteners.
Mistake 6: Treating FDA Added Sugars as WHO free sugars
They overlap but differ. Fruit juice can contain free sugars under WHO terminology while showing 0 g Added Sugars under U.S. labeling when no qualifying sugars were added.
Mistake 7: Using one sugar line as a complete health score
Total Sugars and Added Sugars are pieces of a larger label. Fiber, protein, saturated fat, sodium, calories, ingredients, serving size, and the broader dietary pattern can all matter to the question a reader is trying to answer.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is added sugar included in total sugar on the Nutrition Facts label?
Yes. Added Sugars is included inside Total Sugars. Do not add the values together.
If Total Sugars is 20 g and Added Sugars is 5 g, how much is naturally occurring?
The simple label arithmetic is 15 grams not classified as added. In many foods that remainder reflects naturally occurring sugars, but the Nutrition Facts panel does not identify every molecule or ingredient contribution, and rounding can affect the displayed numbers.
Why does Added Sugars say “Includes”?
Because the FDA wants the label to show that Added Sugars is part of the Total Sugars amount, not an additional quantity.
Why is there a %DV for added sugar but not total sugar?
The FDA has established a 50 g Daily Value for Added Sugars on a 2,000-calorie reference diet. It has not established a Daily Value for Total Sugars.
Is 10 g of added sugar 20% Daily Value?
Yes. On the standard 2,000-calorie Nutrition Facts reference, 50 g is 100% DV, so 10 g is 20% DV.
Does 0 g Added Sugars mean sugar-free?
No. Check Total Sugars. A food may contain sugars that are not classified as added.
Can fruit juice have 0 g Added Sugars but still contain sugar?
Yes. A 100% fruit juice can contain Total Sugars while having 0 g Added Sugars under FDA labeling. WHO terminology is different: sugars naturally present in fruit juice are included in the free-sugars category.
Is honey an added sugar?
Within the FDA dietary-labeling framework, sugars from honey are included in Added Sugars. Pure honey sold as a single-ingredient product has special labeling presentation rules designed to avoid implying that an outside sweetener was added to the honey itself.
Can I find every added sugar by reading the ingredient list?
The ingredient list can reveal sweetening ingredients and their order by weight, but it does not generally provide grams contributed by each ingredient. The Added Sugars line is the direct quantitative source on the Nutrition Facts panel.
Which number should I use to compare two products?
Use the number that matches your question. Total Sugars compares the full sugar quantity; Added Sugars compares the FDA-defined added portion. Check serving size first, and compare the broader nutrition profile when the decision is about the food as a whole.
Does the label tell me whether sugar caused my symptoms?
No. Nutrition Facts labels describe a product, not the cause of an individual symptom or a diagnosis. Questions about blood glucose readings, hypoglycemia, diabetes management, or individualized treatment belong to medical assessment rather than this label-reading framework.
What the Evidence Supports
Established: FDA labeling rules clearly define the relationship between Total Sugars and Added Sugars; Added Sugars is included within Total Sugars, Added Sugars has a %DV, and Total Sugars does not.
Established: serving size changes the amount represented by the label, and ingredient lists are ordered by predominance by weight.
Established: WHO free sugars and FDA Added Sugars are distinct definitions, so one organization’s number should not be relabeled as the other.
Supported by experimental evidence: the way Added Sugars information is presented can change consumer understanding. Some randomized studies show improved comprehension with the updated or more interpretive formats.
Mixed evidence: better label comprehension does not guarantee a uniform change in purchase intentions or diet. Studies differ by population, task, label format, and outcome.
Plausible psychological interpretation: health claims, naturalness language, and small serving sizes can create shortcuts that shape how a product is perceived. The safest practical response is to keep each claim at its literal scope and read it alongside the complete panel.
Bottom Line
Total Sugars tells you how much sugar is in one serving. Added Sugars tells you how much of that total belongs to the FDA’s added-sugar category. Added Sugars is already inside Total Sugars.
Read the label in this order: serving size → Total Sugars → Includes Added Sugars → Added Sugars %DV → ingredient list. That sequence prevents double-counting, keeps “0 g Added Sugars” from turning into “0 g sugar,” and makes product comparisons more meaningful.
The deeper lesson is about categories. A nutrition label is a compact information architecture. Total Sugars is the broad quantity; Added Sugars is a nested, source-defined subset; %DV applies to the subset; and the ingredient list supplies source clues. Once those roles are separated, the label becomes much easier to read.
Related Articles
References
Anastasiou, K., Miller, M., & Dickinson, K. (2019). The relationship between food label use and dietary intake in adults: A systematic review. Appetite, 138, 280–291. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2019.03.025
Electronic Code of Federal Regulations. 21 CFR § 101.9 — Nutrition labeling of food. https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-21/chapter-I/subchapter-B/part-101/subpart-A/section-101.9
Food and Drug Administration. Added Sugars on the Nutrition Facts Label. https://www.fda.gov/food/nutrition-facts-label/added-sugars-nutrition-facts-label
Food and Drug Administration. How to Understand and Use the Nutrition Facts Label. https://www.fda.gov/food/nutrition-facts-label/how-understand-and-use-nutrition-facts-label
Food and Drug Administration. Industry Resources on the Changes to the Nutrition Facts Label. https://www.fda.gov/food/nutrition-food-labeling-and-critical-foods/industry-resources-changes-nutrition-facts-label
Food and Drug Administration. Types of Food Ingredients. https://www.fda.gov/food/food-additives-and-gras-ingredients-information-consumers/types-food-ingredients
Khandpur, N., Graham, D. J., & Roberto, C. A. (2017). Simplifying mental math: Changing how added sugars are displayed on the nutrition facts label can improve consumer understanding. Appetite, 114, 38–46. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2017.03.015
Khandpur, N., Rimm, E. B., & Moran, A. J. (2020). The Influence of the New US Nutrition Facts Label on Consumer Perceptions and Understanding of Added Sugars: A Randomized Controlled Experiment. Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, 120(2), 197–209. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jand.2019.10.008
Kim, E. J., Ellison, B., Prescott, M. P., & Nayga, R. M., Jr. (2021). Consumer Comprehension of the Nutrition Facts Label: A Comparison of the Original and Updated Labels. American Journal of Health Promotion, 35(5), 648–657. https://doi.org/10.1177/0890117120983128
Moore, S. G., Donnelly, J. K., Jones, S., & Cade, J. E. (2018). Effect of Educational Interventions on Understanding and Use of Nutrition Labels: A Systematic Review. Nutrients, 10(10), 1432. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu10101432
World Health Organization. Guideline: Sugars intake for adults and children. https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789241549028