Top 10 Foods Highest in Sucrose

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Top 10 Foods Highest in Sucrose

Sucrose is a disaccharide created by the combination of glucose and fructose. Sucrose is mainly found in plants and is the primary component of most granulated sugars we use in baking. These sugars are mainly refined from sugar beets or sugar cane.

Consumption of refined added sugars such as sucrose is too high in the typical Western diet and should therefore be reduced. Today sucrose can be found in a range of fast foods, restaurant foods, and other commercially processed foods. These high sucrose foods include puddings, milkshakes, cakes, fruit juice drinks, deep-fried meats with sweet sauce, cookies, pancakes, candies, chocolate, and commercial cereals.

The list below gives the amount of sucrose in both grams and teaspoons. 1 teaspoon of packed sucrose weighs about 4 grams. For more high sucrose foods see the complete list of foods with sucrose in the nutrient ranking tool.

List of Foods Highest in Sucrose

Dulce De Leche1 Dulce De Leche
Up to 41.8% Sucrose
Sucrose per CupSucrose per 100g
127g (32 tsp)41.8g (10 tsp)

More Desserts High in Sucrose

  • 35g per cup of chocolate and vanilla pudding
  • 30g per cup of rice pudding (arroz con leche)
  • 29g per cup of tapioca pudding
An ice-cream sunday2 Milkshakes (Blended with Candy)
Up to 16.9% Sucrose
Sucrose per 12oz CupSucrose per 100g
58.8g (15 tsp)16.9g (4 tsp)

More Ice-Creams and Milkshakes High in Sucrose

  • 59g in a McDonald's McFlurry with Oreos
  • 59g in a Soft-Serve Ice-Cream with Milk Chocolate Candies
  • 35g in a McDonald's Hot Fudge Sunday
A slice of chocolate cake3 Cake with Frosting
Up to 36.5% Sucrose
Sucrose per SliceSucrose per 100g
52.6g (13 tsp)36.5g (9 tsp)

A slice of apple pie contains 14g of sucrose.

A glass of juice4 Cran-Lemonade Juice Drink
Up to 8.2% Sucrose
Sucrose per 16oz GlassSucrose per 100g
40.5g (10 tsp)8.2g (2.1 tsp)

More Drinks High in Sucrose

  • 40g per 16oz cup of coffee with milk and sugar
  • 32g per 16oz iced mocha
  • 28g per 16oz horchata
  • 27g per 16oz bottle of Ruby Red Cranberry Juice
  • 13g per 8.4oz can of Red Bull

See the ranking of all drinks high in sucrose.

A plate of orange chicken5 Orange Chicken (Deep Fried with Sweet Sauce)
Up to 12.3% Sucrose
Sucrose per 9 PiecesSucrose per 100g
23.2g (6 tsp)12.3g (3.1 tsp)

More Deep Fried Dishes with Sweet Sauce High in Sucrose

  • 22g in 9 pieces of sesame chicken
  • 17g in 9 pieces of General Tso's Chicken
  • 11g in 9 pieces of lemon chicken
  • 9g in 9 pieces of sweet and sour chiekn
  • 6g in 9 pieces of sweet and sour pork
Cookies6 Cookies
Up to 47.9% Sucrose
Sucrose in 3 CookiesSucrose per 100g
21.6g (5 tsp)47.9g (12 tsp)

A 1.5oz KitKat Bar contains 17g of sucrose.

Pancakes7 Fast Foods (Hot Cakes with Syrup)
Up to 7.8% Sucrose
Sucrose per 3 PancakesSucrose per 100g
17.1g (4 tsp)7.8g (1.9 tsp)

More Fast Foods High in Sucrose

  • 17g per cup of coleslaw
  • 12g per fruit and yogurt parfait
  • 9g in a bacon, egg, and cheese sandwich
  • 5g in a burger king double whopper

See over 100 fast foods high in sucrose.

A kit kat bar8 Kit-Kat Bar
Up to 40% Sucrose
Sucrose per 1.5oz BarSucrose per 100g
16.8g (4 tsp)40g (10 tsp)

6 tootsie rolls contain 16g of sucrose.

Segment of a dark chocolate bar9 Chocolate (45-59% Cocoa)
Up to 46.3% Sucrose
Sucrose per 1oz SquareSucrose per 100g
13.1g (3.3 tsp)46.3g (12 tsp)

Milk chocolate is even higher in sucrose.

Puffed Cereal10 Malt-o-Meal Golden Puffs
Up to 35.5% Sucrose
Sucrose per 3/4 CupSucrose per 100g
9.6g (2.4 tsp)35.5g (9 tsp)

About the Data

Data for the curated food lists comes from the USDA Food Data Central Repository.

You can check our data against the USDA by clicking the (Source) link at the bottom of each food listing.

Note: When checking data please be sure the serving sizes are the same. In the rare case you find any difference, please contact us and we will fix it right away.

Use the ranking tool links below to select foods and create your own food list to share or print.


View more nutrients with the nutrient ranking tool, or see ratios with the nutrient ratio tool.

Data Sources and References

  1. U.S. Agricultural Research Service Food Data Central
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