You read the label. You don't see the word "sugar." So you put it in the cart. That is exactly what the food industry is counting on.
There are over 60 different names for added sugar that food manufacturers legally use on ingredient labels. Most parents know to avoid "sugar" and maybe "corn syrup." But dextrose, maltodextrin, invert syrup, fruit juice concentrate, rice syrup these slip past almost everyone, including the most vigilant label-readers.
This isn't accidental. Splitting sugar across multiple aliases also lets manufacturers push each one further down the ingredient list since ingredients are listed by weight, using five small amounts of different sugars instead of one large amount of a single sugar keeps all of them out of the top three ingredients. The product looks cleaner. The sugar load is identical.
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WHO recommendation for children: The World Health Organization recommends that free sugars all added sugars plus sugars naturally present in juices, syrups, and honey should make up less than 10% of total daily energy intake, and ideally less than 5%. For a school-age child eating 1,600 kcal/day, the 5% threshold is just 20 g of free sugar less than one small carton of packaged fruit juice. |
The 10 Names: Your Label-Reading Cheat Sheet
Print this, photograph it, or memorise the ones you see most often. Every name below is a form of added sugar regardless of how natural, scientific, or unfamiliar it sounds on the packet:
|
# |
Name on label |
What it actually is |
Why it matters for children |
|
01 |
Dextrose |
Simple glucose |
Absorbed instantly: blood sugar spike is identical to table sugar |
|
02 |
Maltose / Maltodextrin |
Glucose polymer |
GI of 95–105: higher than table sugar (GI 65). Common in biscuits and puffs |
|
03 |
Corn syrup / Glucose syrup |
Concentrated fructose |
No nutritional value; used to extend shelf life and add sweetness cheaply |
|
04 |
Fructose / Crystalline fructose |
Isolated fruit sugar |
Metabolised by liver only; drives fatty liver risk at doses in processed foods |
|
05 |
Sucrose |
Table sugar |
The original still appears by its chemical name to seem more 'scientific' |
|
06 |
Fruit juice concentrate |
Processed fruit sugar |
Legally not 'added sugar'; metabolically identical all fructose, zero fibre |
|
07 |
Invert sugar / Inverted syrup |
Sucrose split into glucose + fructose |
Sweeter than table sugar by weight; common in 'premium' biscuits and granola bars |
|
08 |
Barley malt syrup / Rice syrup |
Grain-derived sugar |
Marketed as 'natural'; 98% maltose GI over 98, one of the highest available |
|
09 |
Honey solids / Dried honey |
Dehydrated honey |
'Natural' label claim; nutritionally identical to refined sugar once dried and processed |
|
10 |
Caramel / Caramelised sugar |
Heated sucrose |
Appears in flavouring and colouring still sugar, now also stripped of any residual nutrients |
GI values sourced from the International Glycemic Index Database, University of Sydney. Metabolic effects sourced from WHO Technical Report Series on Sugars Intake, 2015.
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The one that surprises parents most: Maltodextrin has a glycaemic index of 95–105, higher than table sugar. It is classified as a carbohydrate, not a sugar, so it does not appear in the "of which sugars" row on a nutrition label. A product can have zero grams of sugar declared on the label and still contain a high-GI carbohydrate that spikes blood sugar faster than a spoonful of refined sugar. Always check the ingredients list, not just the nutrition table. |
Where These Names Actually Appear - Common Children's Snacks Decoded
The names above aren't theoretical. Here's where they show up in the products most likely sitting in your child's tiffin box or kitchen cupboard right now:
|
Common children's snack |
Sugar aliases found inside |
What it adds up to |
|
Packaged fruit juice (200ml) |
Fruit juice concentrate, fructose |
18–26 g of free sugar, equivalent to 4–6 teaspoons |
|
"Multigrain" biscuits |
Maltodextrin, glucose syrup, invert sugar |
Often 3 separate sugar aliases in one product |
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Flavoured yoghurt (100g) |
Sucrose, fructose, fruit juice concentrate |
Can contain more sugar than a scoop of ice cream |
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Granola / muesli bars |
Rice syrup, honey solids, invert syrup |
Marketed as healthy; frequently 30–40% sugar by weight |
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"No added sugar" cookies |
Maltitol, dextrose, fruit juice concentrate |
All three are free sugars or sugar alcohols, label is technically legal |
|
Flavoured milk (200ml) |
Sucrose, caramel colour, glucose syrup |
40–50% of calories from added sugar in many brands |
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Breakfast cereals for kids |
Corn syrup, dextrose, malt extract |
Up to 37g sugar per 100g, marketed with cartoons and vitamins |
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The "no added sugar" label trap: FSSAI regulations allow a product to claim "no added sugar" if refined sucrose was not directly added, even if it contains dextrose, fructose, fruit juice concentrate, or maltodextrin. All of these are free sugars with the same metabolic effect. The claim is legally permitted and nutritionally misleading. The only way to know the true sugar content is to read the full ingredients list and add up every alias you find. |
The Fruit Juice Illusion : The Biggest Sugar Lie in Children's Food
"Made with real fruit juice." "Contains fruit juice concentrate." "No added sugar sweetened with fruit." These claims appear on products marketed specifically to parents who are trying to avoid sugar. They are among the most misleading statements in children's food marketing.
Fruit juice concentrate is produced by removing the water, and with it, virtually all the fibre, from whole fruit. What remains is a dense, highly sweet liquid that is essentially pure fructose. When a child drinks a glass of orange juice, they consume the sugar of 3–4 oranges with none of the fibre that, in whole fruit, slows absorption and signals fullness.
A 2019 review in JAMA Pediatrics found that 100% fruit juice consumption in children under 6 was associated with faster weight gain and higher fasting glucose levels, outcomes identical to those seen with sugar-sweetened beverages. The researchers concluded that from a metabolic standpoint, fruit juice should be treated the same as other sweetened drinks, regardless of whether it is labelled "100% natural" or "no added sugar."
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Simple rule: Whole fruit are always fine. Fruit juice, treat it as a sweet drink. Fruit juice concentrate as an ingredient it is added sugar, whatever the label claims. |
How to Spot Hidden Sugar on Any Label in 30 Seconds
You don't need to memorise all 60 sugar aliases. Three checks cover 90% of cases:
Check 1 : count the aliases in the first 8 ingredients
Ingredients are listed by weight — the first item is the most abundant. If you find two or more sugar aliases in the first eight ingredients, the product has a high sugar load regardless of what the front-of-pack claims. One alias = proceed with caution. Three aliases = put it back.
Check 2 : look for the "-ose" and "-syrup" endings
Dextrose, fructose, maltose, sucrose, glucose the "-ose" suffix marks a simple sugar. Any "-syrup" (glucose syrup, corn syrup, rice syrup, invert syrup) is a liquid sugar. These two patterns alone will catch most aliases without memorising every name.
Check 3 : the "concentrate" flag
Any ingredient ending in "concentrate" fruit juice concentrate, apple juice concentrate, grape juice concentrate is a processed sugar source. It is not whole fruit. It is the sugar fraction of fruit, stripped of its fibre and concentrated into a form that behaves like added sugar in the body.
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How Millimo Nutribars handle this: The sweetness in Millimo Nutribars comes from one source: whole dates. Not date syrup, not date concentrate, not date extract, whole dates, which retain their natural fibre (6–8 g per 100 g) and minerals alongside their natural sugar. The fibre in whole dates slows glucose absorption, blunts the blood sugar response, and contributes to satiety. It is not a workaround or a marketing claim, it is simply how whole fruit behaves when left intact. You will find one sweetening ingredient on a Millimo Nutribar label. You will be able to pronounce it. |
