NourmioTotal sugar vs. added sugar: read the two numbers together
Understand total and added sugar on a US label, avoid counting added sugar twice and work out the sugar in the portion you ate.
On a US Nutrition Facts label, total sugar includes both naturally occurring sugar and added sugar. Added sugar is already part of the total. Do not add the two lines together when you record what you ate.
AI-generated editorial illustration. It does not show a measured serving or an app result.
Total sugar includes added sugar
On a US Nutrition Facts label, Total Sugars includes naturally occurring sugar, such as the sugar in milk or fruit, and added sugar. The indented Includes Added Sugars line shows the added part of that total, as FDA explains. Don’t add the two lines together.
A food with zero added sugar can still contain naturally occurring sugar. It doesn’t tell you whether the food suits your needs. This guide explains the label calculation, not a personal sugar target.
Check the serving or package amount
Before copying a sugar number, check the serving size and the number of servings in the container. FDA notes that most label values are per serving, though some labels also give values for the whole package.
Use the column that matches the amount you’re calculating. The printed serving size isn’t a recommendation for how much to eat. If you eat a different amount, adjust the numbers for your portion.
Calculate the sugar in your portion
Imagine a label with a 150 g serving, 12 g Total Sugars and Includes 5 g Added Sugars. These are invented practice numbers, not a real product’s label.
For that serving, 12 g is the total: 5 g added sugar and 7 g remaining sugar. The total is not 17 g.
If you eat 225 g, you’ve eaten 1.5 servings. Multiply both sugar numbers by 1.5: total 18 g, added 7.5 g. The remainder is 10.5 g. Don’t add 18 and 7.5 when entering total sugar.
| Quantity | Label serving 150 g | Eaten 225 g |
|---|---|---|
| Total sugar | 12 g | 18 g |
| Of that, added sugar | 5 g | 7.5 g |
| Remaining sugar | 7 g | 10.5 g |
Sugar in your portion = label sugar × amount eaten ÷ label serving amount. Use the same unit for both food amounts.
Replace the practice values with those on your package. If the added-sugar amount is unknown, neither the total-sugar number nor a food photo can tell you how to split it.
For product examples, compare sugar in drinks of different sizes or plain and flavored yogurt.
Practice reading the label
Work out total and added sugar for the portion shown in each of three invented label excerpts. Enter both answers, then check the calculation. The first exercise uses the same numbers as the table above.
Log total sugar in Nourmio
Nourmio tracks total sugar from information you enter or confirm. It doesn’t separate added and naturally occurring sugar. For the 225 g example above, log 18 g as total sugar. A total-sugar diary can’t tell you the added-sugar amount or whether you met an added-sugar target.
Enter the label information manually or scan the product’s barcode in Nourmio. Check that the result matches your product and package label, then confirm the serving basis and the amount you ate.
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