Sugar and salt
Learn the WHO limits for free sugars and salt, where they hide in everyday food, and how to cut back without missing them.
Free sugars
Sugars added to food and drinks by the maker, the cook or you, plus the sugars naturally in honey, syrups and fruit juices. Sugars inside whole fruit, vegetables and milk are not free sugars: they come packed with fibre, water or protein, and aren't linked to the same harms.
The sugar you stir into tea, the sugar in a biscuit, a spoon of honey and a glass of orange juice are all free sugars. The sugar inside a whole orange is not.
Check yourself
Free sugar or not?
- A spoon of honey in yoghurt
- The sugar inside a whole apple
- The lactose in a glass of plain milk
- A glass of freshly squeezed orange juice
- Date syrup (shireh) on bread
- The natural sugar in carrots
Show the answer
Free sugar: A spoon of honey in yoghurt, A glass of freshly squeezed orange juice, Date syrup (shireh) on bread
Not a free sugar: The sugar inside a whole apple, The lactose in a glass of plain milk, The natural sugar in carrots
THE SUGAR LIMIT
Under 10 % of energy, ideally under 5 %
WHO advises keeping free sugars below 10 % of daily energy, and says going below 5 % brings extra benefit. On the 2,000 kcal reference: 10 % is about 50 g, roughly 12 level teaspoons; 5 % is about 25 g, roughly 6 teaspoons. A level teaspoon of sugar is about 4 g. Too much free sugar is linked to tooth decay and to taking in more energy than you need, and sugary drinks are the biggest single source for many people.
A sugar cube weighs about 3 to 4 g, a bit less than a level teaspoon.
One ordinary day of free sugars
4 cups of tea × 2 sugar cubes × ~3.5 g ≈ 28 g
1 can of regular cola (330 ml) ≈ 35 g
Total ≈ 63 g ≈ 16 teaspoons
WHO limit (10 %) ≈ 50 g
WHO ideal (5 %) ≈ 25 gOver the 10 % limit before any sweets, biscuits or pastries.Nothing here looks like dessert. The single can is about 9 teaspoons, most of a day's limit in one drink. Swapping it for water, or halving the cubes in each tea, brings this day under 50 g.
Check yourself
About how many level teaspoons of sugar are in a 330 ml can of regular cola (about 35 g)?
- About 2
- About 5
- About 9
- About 20
Show the answer
About 9
Yes. 35 g ÷ 4 g per teaspoon is about 9 teaspoons, most of the WHO's 10 % limit (about 12 teaspoons) in a single can.
THE SALT LIMIT
Less than 5 g of salt a day
WHO recommends adults eat less than 5 g of salt a day (under 2 g of sodium): about one level teaspoon in total, counting the salt already in food, not only what you add. Adults worldwide eat about double that on average; WHO estimates about 10.8 g. Too much salt raises blood pressure, a major cause of heart disease and stroke.
Two slices of bread, a piece of white cheese and a bowl of instant noodles can together come close to 5 g before you've salted anything.
Where salt hides
- Bread: not very salty per slice, but eaten several times a day.
- Cheese, pickles (torshi) and olives: salt is part of how they're made and kept.
- Processed meats: sausages, cold cuts, burgers.
- Stock cubes, instant noodles, sauces and salty snacks.
- Restaurant and takeaway food, usually saltier than home cooking. On a label, over 1.5 g salt per 100 g is high.
Check yourself
Reza says: "I only add a pinch of salt at the table, so I'm well under the limit." What's the best reply?
- He's right; only the salt you add yourself counts
- The WHO limit is less than 5 g a day in total, including the salt already in bread, cheese and other foods
- There's no limit for salt, only for sugar
- The limit is 5 g per meal, so a pinch is fine
Show the answer
The WHO limit is less than 5 g a day in total, including the salt already in bread, cheese and other foods
Right. The under-5 g limit covers all the salt he eats. Most of it usually comes already in the food, so the pinch at the table may be the smallest part.
Cutting back without missing it
- Taste before you salt
Salting out of habit is common. Taste first, and keep the shaker off the table.
- Use other flavours
Herbs, lemon, garlic, sumac, pepper and spices do much of the work salt was doing.
- Cut sugar in tea step by step
Two cubes to one and a half, then one, over a few weeks, rather than all at once.
- Swap the drink first
Water or unsweetened tea instead of a soft drink is the single biggest sugar cut for many people.
Check yourself
If you cut down on salt, food will taste bland to you for good.
Show the answer
False
False. Taste adapts: after a few weeks of eating less salt, lower-salt food usually tastes normal, and very salty food starts to taste too salty. The same happens with less sugar.
"Natural" sugars that still count
Still free sugars
Honey, brown sugar, date syrup, grape syrup (shireh), fruit juice. They may taste richer or sound more natural, but in the body they act much like white sugar and count towards the same limit.
Not free sugars
Whole dates, fresh fruit, raisins eaten as they are. The sugar is inside the fruit with its fibre. Dates and dried fruit are still energy-dense, so a few go a long way.
Check yourself
- Shirin drinks her tea with two sugar cubes.
- Shirin drinks her tea plain, with two dates on the side.
Both taste sweet. What is the key difference for the WHO sugar limit?
- Dates have no sugar at all
- The cubes are free sugars; the sugar in whole dates isn't, and comes with fibre
- Sugar in tea doesn't count because it dissolves
- There is no difference; both count the same
Show the answer
The cubes are free sugars; the sugar in whole dates isn't, and comes with fibre
Exactly. Added sugar counts towards the free-sugar limit; sugar inside whole fruit doesn't. Dates are still energy-dense, so two is a sensible amount rather than a bowlful.
Lesson recap
- Free sugars are sugars added to food plus those in honey, syrups and juice; sugar inside whole fruit, vegetables and milk isn't.
- WHO: free sugars under 10 % of energy (about 50 g, 12 teaspoons, on 2,000 kcal), ideally under 5 % (about 25 g).
- A 330 ml can of regular cola has about 35 g sugar, roughly 9 teaspoons.
- WHO: less than 5 g salt a day in total, about a teaspoon. Most comes already in bread, cheese, pickles and processed food.
- Cut back gradually with herbs, lemon, sumac and water instead of soft drinks; your taste adapts in a few weeks.