Muesli, bowls & co. Where the sugar traps lurk in everyday life
Even those who give up chocolate often consume a lot of sugar unnoticed - even through savory snacks. There is often more of it in everyday products than you might think.
08.11.2025, 19:40
09.11.2025, 08:02
dpa
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- Even those who consciously eat a healthy diet can fall for hidden sugar.
- Cereals, dairy products, smoothies, juices and even salads often contain more sugar than you think.
- This is how much sugar you can put your body through.
Chocolate kisses, cola, cookies or nut nougat cream: most people are aware that certain foods contain a lot of sugar.
People who eat healthily, watch their figure or even want to lose weight will give these calorie bombs a wide berth. However, there are also products that are not so obvious at first glance - for example, because they taste savory rather than sweet.
If you reach for supposedly light foods, you can quickly fall into a trap. Hidden sugar is a challenge that exists every day and at every meal - and not just for people with diagnosed diabetes. Many probably eat more of it than they realize. Sugar contains no vitamins or minerals, but provides unnecessary calories.
Traps lurking at breakfast
In the morning, many people like to reach for supposedly healthy foods, such as muesli with yogurt, a smoothie or toasted wholemeal bread with jam or honey. However, breakfast cereals, flavored yogurts or fruit drinks often contain added sugar that is not immediately perceived as such.
In addition, although milk and dairy products are important sources of nutrients and can be a valuable part of a balanced diet, they can also be hidden traps.
Dairy products naturally contain sugar (whole milk contains around 4.7 grams per 100 milliliters), but some - like plant-based alternatives - are additionally sweetened. Half a liter of mixed milk drink can contain up to 15 sugar cubes.
A smoothie also has its pitfalls. This is because the drink contains a lot of fruit, which most people would probably not eat in the same quantity in its natural form. There can easily be 25 grams of sugar in 200 milliliters. The same applies to breakfast juices: According to the German Nutrition Society (DGE), for example, up to 34 grams of sugar can enter the body via 200 milliliters of apple juice.
How much we should consume daily
For a good diet, the World Health Organization (WHO) recommends that people with a healthy body weight should not consume more than 50 grams of so-called free sugars per day, ideally even less than 25 grams (six teaspoons). Free sugars are deliberately added to foods or released from natural foods, for example through juicing. However, the natural occurrence in fruit is not included. So: fruit juice is free sugar, fruit is not.
Nutrition researcher Stefan Kabisch from the Charité hospital in Berlin believes that such a limit is not entirely appropriate, precisely because it only refers to free sugars. The WHO value suggests: "As long as I eat the sugar in a natural food, I can eat as much as I want. But that's not true either." They are the same calories.
According to the German National Nutrition Survey II (2005 to 2007), men in Germany consume an average of 78 grams of free sugar per day and women 61 grams. Even though the study is older, it is "the most representative we have for Germany", says Kabisch. "It will still be in the same order of magnitude today, including other sources of sugar, 90 to perhaps 100 grams per day."
A quick meal can be a danger
Some people like to go to the restaurant next door for a quick lunch. But with every meal that someone else prepares, there is no control over what is in it. This can also be the case with supposedly healthy food such as a bowl or salad. Sugar is also hidden in dressings and dips.
In spring 2024, for example, the Bavarian consumer advice center took a close look at popular to-go dishes. The result: some of the supposedly healthy snacks contained a significant proportion of the maximum recommended daily amount of added sugar. Some bowls in the sample contained more than 25 grams, a salad even 34 grams.
People with little time also like to reach for ready meals. They are often practical, ready to eat and have a long shelf life. However, many of these highly processed foods, some of which are produced using extensive industrial processes, typically contain a lot of sugar as well as salt, unfavorable fats and various additives.
This is often added to enhance the taste, but also to improve the consistency or extend the shelf life as a preservative. In 2019, a British study found that avoiding highly processed foods could potentially reduce the intake of excess free sugars by almost half.
The trap of snacking in between meals
When hunger strikes between meals, some people turn to protein or muesli bars. But even these are usually processed products that have little to do with a natural diet. "You can't rely on a certain food category being potentially healthy. Sugar can be found in very atypical products," says Kabisch.
Fresh fruit and raw vegetables are better snacks. Nuts are also rich in fiber and protein. Chewing them for a long time also keeps you full for longer. When it comes to fruit, ripe bananas are particularly high in sugar, while apples and pears are around mid-table.
"Berries would be best," explains the Charité scientist. "Raspberries, blackberries, gooseberries, blueberries." 100 grams of raspberries have less than five grams of sugar.
Why a limit should be set
If you eat a lot of sugar, you get a lot of energy, but hardly any important nutrients. The risk: you consume too many calories overall and develop overweight or even obesity as a result.
These are significant risk factors for cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes, for example. "We also see a link between obesity and depression, dementia, various cancers or sleep apnea, where breathing stops several times during the night," says Kabisch. "Sugar is not the only cause, but it is certainly a relevant one." Too much sugar can also cause tooth decay and damage teeth.
So there are good reasons to maintain or aim for a healthy weight. And giving up sugar would be a start.
