Text alternative: Toothsmart - Reading food and drink labels

Work out how many teaspoons of sugar are in different food and drinks

Step 1

Find the ‘sugars’ section on the nutrition label.

Nutritional information:

  • Servings per package: For example, 5
  • Serving Size: For example, 200mL
​Per serve Per 100g​​
Energy​​ ​874 KJ (208 Cal) ​437 KJ (104 Cal)
Protein​​ ​10.6g ​5.3g
​Fat ​1.9g ​0.95g
​Carbohydrate ​ ​
​​Total ​36.6g ​18.3g
​Sugars​ ​36.2g ​18.1g
​Sodium ​140mg ​70mg
​Potassium ​432mg ​216mg

This product has 36g of sugar per serve.

Step 2

Divide the amount of sugar by 4 to find out how many teaspoons: 36 ÷ 4 = 9

Answer: There are 9 teaspoons of sugar in this food!

Use the sugar ‘per 100g’ when comparing two products.

The shopping guide below will help you choose the best.

​ Low sugar Moderate sugar ​ ​Too much sugar
Food per 100g​ ​5g or less ​5.1 – 14.9g ​15g or more
Drink per 100mL ​ ​2.5g or less ​2.6 – 7.4g 7.5g ​7.5g or more

* Developed by Western Sydney Local Health District. Sponsored by the Centre for Oral Health Strategy NSW

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Contact page owner: Centre for Oral Health Strategy