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. 2012 Apr 4;66(7):765–779. doi: 10.1038/ejcn.2012.27

Table 1. Overview of different terms used for sugars.

Term Description Reference
Total sugars All monosaccharides and disaccharides in a food, whether naturally occurring or added during processing or cooking 2,4
Added sugars Sugars and syrups that are ‘added to foods during processing or preparation' 5
  According to United States Department of Agriculture: only monosaccharides and disaccharides  
  According to United States Economic Research Service: includes oligosaccharides derived from corn syrups in its definition 7
  Others: all refined sugars (e.g., sucrose, maltose, lactose, glucose and dextrin) eaten separately at the table or used as ingredients in processed foods 6
Free sugars Traditional: any sugars in a food that were not bound, including lactose 2
  Recent: all monosaccharides and disaccharides added to foods by the manufacturer, cook and consumer, plus sugars naturally present in honey, syrups and fruit juices 39
Refined sugars Mainly European countries: sucrose, fructose, glucose, starch hydrolysates (glucose syrup, high-fructose corn syrup) and other isolated sugar preparations such as food components used as such or added during food preparation and manufacturing 9
Non-milk extrinsic sugars (NMES) Total sugars minus: lactose in milk and milk products and sugars present within the cellular structures of fruits and vegetables 147
Sugar (without an ‘s') Appears to have a number of meanings, in some cases, referring only to sucrose, while in other cases it includes ‘all monosaccharides and disaccharides', or ‘any free monosaccharide or disaccharide in a food' 8
Caloric sweeteners Sweeteners consumed directly and as food ingredients, such as sucrose, from refined cane and beet sugars, honey, dextrose, edible sugars and commercial sweeteners and including some oligosaccharides 10