Foods with healthy-sounding buzzwords could be hiding added sugar in
plain sight
[December 29, 2025]
By ALBERT STUMM
Many consumers feel pride in avoiding the glazed pastries in the
supermarket and instead opting for “all natural” granola that comes
packed with extra protein. Same goes for low-fat yogurts “made with real
fruit,” “organic” plant-based milks and bottled “superfood” smoothies.
Buyer beware: Healthy grocery buzzwords like those often cover up an
unhealthy amount of sugar.
Added sugars are difficult to quickly spot because many companies use
clever marketing to distract consumers, said Nicole Avena, a professor
of neuroscience and psychiatry at Mount Sinai Medical School and
Princeton University who has studied added sugars.
Avena said while some health-forward brands know people are starting to
become aware of the hazards of added sugars, "a lot of the bigger brands
don’t worry so much about people’s health.”
Here’s how to spot hidden sugars and what to do about it.
What to look for
Along with saturated fat and salt, eating excess sugar is linked to
heart disease, obesity, diabetes and other health risks.
The average American consumes 17 grams of added sugar a day, which adds
up to 57 pounds (26 kilograms) per year, according to the American Heart
Association. About half of that comes from beverages, but much of the
rest is sneaked into cereal, salsa, prepared sandwiches, dairy products,
bottled sauces and baked goods, including many brands of whole-grain
bread.
To help control sugar intake, start by checking the nutrition label.
Since 2021, food companies have been required to list the quantity of
added sugars separately from total sugar content. But the plan
backfired, Avena said.
Companies reduced common sweeteners like refined beet sugar and
high-fructose corn syrup but added alternatives, such as monk fruit and
the sugar alcohol erythritol, which aren’t considered “added sugars”
under FDA regulations.
“Now our foods are even more sweet than they were back in 2020,” Avena
said.
What should you do?
Collin Popp, a dietitian and professor at NYU Langone Health, said the
current FDA recommendation allows for some flexibility. People should
get no more than 10% of their calories from added sugar, which amounts
to about 50 grams per day if eating 2,000 calories, or a bit more than
what’s in a typical can of soda.
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This photo illustration shows granulated sugar falling from a spoon,
in Philadelphia, on Sept. 12, 2016. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)
 But that might be too flexible, Popp
said.
“I would actually like to see that be less than 5%, and closer to
zero for some, if they have diabetes or prediabetes,” he said.
The key is to be mindful of what you’re eating, even if the product
seems healthy or if the package is labeled organic, Popp said.
Roasted nuts, plant-based milks and wasabi peas, for example, can
include a surprising amount of added sugars. So can English muffins
and Greek yogurt.
One Chobani black cherry yogurt, for example, has zero grams of fat
but 9 grams of added sugar, or more than 2 teaspoons. Silk brand
almond milk has 7 grams per cup.
Popp recommends taking control of how much sugar goes into your
food. That could mean buying plain yogurt and adding honey or
berries, or asking the barista if you can put your own oat milk into
your coffee.
Taking from one column to add to another
Although they lower the calorie content of foods, artificial
sweeteners like stevia and sugar alcohols may not be better because
they can encourage people to overeat, Avena said. She said research
shows that sweet flavors are what activate the reward center of the
brain, not the sugar itself.
That’s not to write off sugar alternatives, including allulose for
people with Type 1 diabetes since it doesn’t affect blood sugar.
But for the general public, minimizing dependence on the overall
sweetness of food is key to improving health, she said.
“Don’t let the food companies decide how much sugar you’re eating,"
Avena said.
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