By FDA rule, ingredients on a U.S. food label are listed in descending order by weight — biggest first [1]. So if 'sugar' is the #1 ingredient, the product is mostly sugar. Manufacturers know this — and the smarter ones get clever.
The trick: split sugar into multiple forms. Cane sugar + brown rice syrup + fruit juice concentrate + maltodextrin. Each one weighs less than the total combined sugar would, so each one individually ranks lower on the label. None of them appear at #1. But add them all up and the product is still mostly sugar.
UCSF's SugarScience project has documented more than 60 different names for added sugar that show up on ingredient lists [2]. The common ones:
• Cane sugar, evaporated cane juice, beet sugar, palm sugar, coconut sugar • Dextrose, maltose, sucrose, fructose, glucose • High fructose corn syrup, corn syrup solids • Brown rice syrup, malt syrup, barley malt • Agave nectar, honey, molasses, maple syrup • Fruit juice concentrate, fruit nectar • Maltodextrin, dextrin
The CDC notes that most added sugar in the average American diet comes from packaged foods and beverages, not from the sugar bowl [3] — which is exactly why this split-name trick works on the unsuspecting shopper.
Three or more sugar-cousins on one label is a good signal: the product is probably sweeter than the label wants you to think.