What Food Item Has the Most Grams of Sugar?

November 9, 2025 •

4 min read

According to the American Heart Association, sugar-sweetened beverages contribute about half of the total added sugar consumed in the U.S. diet, but what food item has the most grams of sugar per serving? The answer depends on whether you consider beverages, desserts, or concentrated sources like syrups, but many commercially prepared items can contain staggeringly high levels.

Quick Summary

Several food and drink categories, including desserts, candies, and sweetened beverages, are notorious for their high sugar content. Concentrated sweeteners, certain baked goods, and even some seemingly healthy options like dried fruit and flavored yogurt can also contain large amounts of sugar. Understanding the various high-sugar culprits can help consumers make healthier dietary choices.

Key Points

Concentrated Sources: Processed syrups like dulce de leche and blackstrap molasses are extremely high in sugar due to their concentrated nature.
Sugary Beverages: Large-serving sugar-sweetened drinks, including soda and energy drinks, contribute a significant amount of sugar in a single serving.
Hidden Sugars: Many processed and packaged foods, such as flavored yogurts, cereals, and condiments, contain surprising amounts of added sugar.
Dried Fruits: Dried fruits are high in sugar because the dehydration process concentrates the natural sugars, making them much denser than fresh fruit.
Serving Size Matters: A single, oversized restaurant dessert can deliver more grams of sugar than a person's entire daily limit, making serving size a critical factor.
Read Labels: Identifying hidden sugars requires checking nutrition labels for various sugar aliases like dextrose, fructose, and corn syrup.

Uncovering the Highest Sugar Culprits

Determining the single food item with the most grams of sugar can be challenging because serving sizes vary dramatically, from small candies to large beverages. For instance, a single restaurant-sized dessert could contain more than 100 grams of sugar. When analyzing sugar content, it’s important to consider both added and naturally occurring sugars.

Desserts and Sweetened Treats

Desserts and sweet snacks are one of the most common sources of high sugar intake, contributing around 19% of the total added sugar consumed in the U.S..

Large Cheesecake Slices: Some restaurant-sized portions of cheesecake or other decadent desserts can easily exceed 100 grams of sugar in one sitting, making them among the most concentrated sources.
Candy Bars: A single king-size candy bar can contain over 50 grams of sugar, with some varieties even higher. For example, a Milky Way 2-bar pack can contain 72.4 grams of sugar per 100g, translating to a very high total sugar count per package.
Dulce de Leche: This thick, caramelized confection can contain up to 50% sugar by weight, with some sources reporting as much as 151g of sugar per cup.
Sugared Donuts and Pastries: A single frosted cake with coconut frosting can contain around 64g of sugar per slice, a substantial amount for one serving.

The Impact of Sugar-Sweetened Beverages

Sugary drinks are often cited as the primary source of added sugars in many diets because they are consumed frequently and in large quantities. The American Heart Association notes that they contribute 24% of added sugar consumption.

Energy Drinks: A large can of a popular energy drink can contain over 80 grams of sugar.
Grape Juice: Even 100% fruit juices, while containing naturally occurring sugars, can pack a powerful sugary punch. A 16oz glass of grape juice, for example, can have 72g of sugar.
Bottled Sodas: A 20-ounce bottle of cola can contain nearly 70 grams of sugar, exceeding the daily recommended limit for both men and women in a single serving.

Hidden Sugars and Concentrated Sources

Beyond the obvious culprits, sugar is frequently hidden in many processed foods, dressings, and condiments to improve flavor and shelf life.

Dried Fruit: Removing the water from fruit concentrates its natural sugars. A small box of raisins, for instance, has more sugar than a cup of fresh grapes. A 100g serving of dates can contain 70-80 grams of sugar, making them one of the most sugar-dense natural foods by weight.
Honey and Molasses: Both honey and molasses are highly concentrated sweeteners. While honey contains about 80g of sugars per 100g, molasses can also have a very high sugar content, depending on the type.
Flavored Yogurts: Some fruit-flavored yogurts, especially low-fat varieties, contain more added sugar than a donut. A single pot can have 11.3g of free sugars.
Condiments: Many popular condiments, including ketchup and barbecue sauce, contain surprising amounts of added sugar.

High-Sugar Food Comparison Table

To illustrate the disparity in sugar content, here is a comparison of sugar amounts per 100 grams for various food items:


Food Item	Sugar per 100g (Approx.)	Type of Sugar	Key Takeaway
Honey	80g	Mostly Fructose & Glucose	High concentration of natural sugars.
Dates	70-80g	Mostly Glucose	Very high concentration due to dehydration.
Molasses	64g	Sucrose, Fructose & Glucose	Highly concentrated, rich in minerals.
Milk Chocolate	52.8g	Sucrose	Moderate concentration of refined sugars.
Cola	10.6g	Added Sugar (HFCS)	High total grams of sugar due to large serving size.
Apple	10.4g	Fructose, Glucose & Sucrose	Lower concentration; sugar is bundled with fiber.
Flavored Yogurt	9-11g	Added and Natural	Significant added sugar, often in 'healthy' options.

Factors Influencing Sugar Content

The actual sugar content of a food can be influenced by several factors:

Processing: The more a food is processed, the more likely it is to contain high levels of added sugars. Manufacturers often add sugar to enhance flavor and texture in low-fat products.
Form: For natural foods like fruit, the way they are prepared can change their sugar concentration. Dried fruits contain a much denser concentration of sugar than their fresh counterparts because the water is removed. Juicing also removes fiber, causing sugar to be absorbed more quickly.
Serving Size: The total amount of sugar consumed is directly tied to the serving size. A large beverage or supersized dessert will inevitably deliver a larger sugar load than a small one, regardless of the sugar density.

Making Healthier Choices

Being mindful of both obvious and hidden sources of sugar is crucial for a healthy diet. To limit intake, consider these actions:

Choose fresh fruits over dried fruits, as the fiber helps slow sugar absorption.
Opt for plain yogurt and add your own fresh fruit, avoiding the high sugar content of pre-flavored versions.
Use water infused with fruit or unsweetened seltzer instead of sugary beverages and juices.
Read nutritional labels carefully and look for added sugars under various names, such as high-fructose corn syrup, dextrose, or maltose.

Conclusion

While refined sweeteners like table sugar and high-fructose corn syrup have the highest grams of sugar by pure concentration, the reality of high sugar intake comes from a variety of sources. Extremely large dessert servings, concentrated syrups like dulce de leche and molasses, and commonly consumed sugar-sweetened beverages are often the biggest contributors to total sugar grams in a diet. Even seemingly healthy options like dried fruits and flavored yogurts can harbor significant amounts of hidden sugar. For controlling sugar intake, it is essential to be aware of these sources and choose less processed alternatives when possible.

Visit the American Heart Association website for guidelines on daily added sugar intake.

Frequently Asked Questions

Pure table sugar is 100% sucrose, making it the highest in sugar by percentage. Among processed food products, a confection like dulce de leche can contain up to 50% sugar.

While dried fruits contain natural sugars and some fiber, vitamins, and minerals, they are extremely sugar-dense. The sugar in dried fruit is absorbed more quickly than in fresh fruit, and the concentrated sugar content can be comparable to or even higher than some candies by weight.

Yes, fruit juice can be a very high-sugar item. While the sugars are naturally occurring, juicing removes the fiber that slows absorption. A single large serving of grape or apple juice can contain over 70 grams of sugar, which your body processes very quickly.

Yes, many popular condiments like ketchup and barbecue sauce contain significant amounts of added sugar. Some brands of ketchup can have nearly 4 grams of sugar per tablespoon, which can add up quickly over a meal.

Always read the ingredient list on packaged foods. Look for different names for sugar, including high-fructose corn syrup, dextrose, maltose, and other syrups. The higher up on the list an ingredient is, the more of it the product contains.

Many granola bars, flavored yogurts (especially low-fat versions), and some breakfast cereals are advertised as healthy but can be loaded with added sugars. Choosing plain versions and adding your own ingredients is often a better option.

Natural sugars are found in whole foods like fruits and vegetables, bundled with fiber that slows digestion and absorption. Added sugars are processed sweeteners with no nutritional value that can cause rapid spikes in blood sugar. It is the high intake of added sugar that is most concerning for health.