Food & Recipes

Sugar Shockers: Foods Surprisingly High in Sugar

7. Instant Hot Cereal

• Instant Cream of Wheat, Apples ‘n Cinnamon: 1 envelope = 16 grams sugar, 130 calories
• Instant Cream of Wheat, Cinnamon Swirl: 14 grams sugar, 130 calories
• Quaker Instant Oatmeal Dinosaur Eggs (made with whole-grain oats): 1 envelope = 14 grams sugar, 190 calories
• Quaker Instant Oatmeal, Cinnamon Roll: 1 envelope = 13 grams sugar, 160 calories:
• Quaker Instant Oatmeal, Strawberries & Cream or Peaches & Cream: 1 envelope = 12 grams sugar, 130 calories

8. Breakfast Cereal

No shock that the typical "high-sugar" cereals Americans know and love -- like Froot Loops or Reese’s Puffs, Trix or Cap’n Crunch -- contain around 12 grams of sugar. So here, I've just listed healthier-sounding cereals that turned out to be as high in sugar as the notoriously sweet ones.

• Kellogg’s Smart Start Strong Heart, Toasted Oat: 1 1/4 cup = 17 grams sugar, 220 calories
• Kellogg’s Cracklin’ Oat Bran: 3/4 cup = 15 grams sugar, 200 calories
• Kellogg’s Smart Start Strong Heart, Original Antioxidant: 1 cup = 14 grams sugar, 190 calories
• Quaker Oatmeal Squares: 1 cup = 13 grams sugar, 210 calories
• Frosted Mini-Wheats (all the different flavors are pretty much the same): 1.8 ounces = 12 grams sugar, 180 calories
• Special K Fruit & Yogurt: 3/4 cup = 11 grams sugar, 120 calories

9. Bottled Spaghetti Sauce

Some types of bottled spaghetti sauce have double or triple the grams of sugar as other types. Here are a few of the products that I found had almost as much sugar as a granola bar or Pop-Tart. 

• Newman’s Own Tomato & Basil: 1/2 cup = 12 grams sugar, 90 calories
• Bertolli Vineyard Marinara: 1/2 cup = 12 grams sugar, 80 calories
• Prego Fresh Mushroom Italian Sauce: 1/2 cup = 11 grams sugar, 90 calories
• Prego 3-Cheese: 1/2 cup = 11 grams sugar, 80 calories

10. Barbecue Sauce

• Sweet Baby Ray’s Honey Barbecue Sauce: 2 tablespoons = 15 grams sugar, 70 calories
• Bull’s Eye Brown Sugar & Hickory: 2 tablespoons = 14 grams sugar, 70 calories
• KC Masterpiece: 2 tablespoons = 12-13 grams sugar, 60 calories
• Cattlemen’s Honey or Smokehouse: 2 tablespoons = 12 grams sugar, 60-70 calories

11. Beverages

Just 8 ounces of Langers Grape Juice Plus adds 36 grams of sugar to your daily total. Granted, the sugar comes from juice concentrate. But that is still quite a shock when you're reading the label. What would a juice lower in sugar contain? Welch’s Light Grape Juice Beverage brings it down to 12 grams of sugar and 50 calories per 8-ounce serving by using Splenda and acesulfame potassium.

Flavored Milk

• Nesquick Fat Free Chocolate Milk: 16 ounces = 54 grams sugar, 300 calories
• Nesquick Strawberry Milk Shake: 13.5 ounce bottle = 46 grams sugar, 340 calories

Juice and Fruit Drinks

• Langers Grape Juice Plus (contains grape seed extract) 100% juice: 8 ounces = 36 grams sugar, 160 calories
• Minute Maid Lemonade, 12% Lemon Juice All Natural: 8 ounces = 29 grams sugar, 110 calories
• Simply Lemonade (or Limeade): 8 ounces = 29 grams sugar, 120 calories
• V8 Fusion Vegetable Fruit 100% juice, Peach Mango or Acai Mixed Berry: 8 ounces = 26 grams sugar, 110-120 calories
• An "organics" store brand of fruit punch with no sugar added (100% juice): 1 pouch = 25 grams sugar, 100 calories
• CapriSun 25% Less Sugar, Wild Cherry: 1 pouch = 18 grams sugar, 70 calories