✦ Pure sucrose: 400 kcal per 100g ✦ No vitamins, minerals, or fibre ✦ NHS limit: 30g free sugars per day for adults ✦ Benchmark free sugar

White sugar (refined table sugar, sucrose) is a pure carbohydrate providing 400 kcal/100g with no vitamins, minerals, fibre, or protein. It is the benchmark free sugar that all other sugars are compared to nutritionally. The NHS recommends adults consume no more than 30g of free sugars per day (roughly 7 teaspoons), a limit that most UK adults substantially exceed. It provides energy rapidly but no accompanying nutritional benefit.

🍳
Preparation note

Reduce white sugar in recipes by 10–25% before tasting — most recipes are developed slightly sweeter than necessary and the reduction is rarely noticeable. Replacing some sugar with spices (cinnamon, vanilla) can maintain sweetness perception.

Sources: NHS Sugar · CoFID 2021

Macronutrients per 100g

394
kcal
Energy
0.00
g
Protein
100
g
Carbs
0.00
g
Fibre
0.00
g
Fat
100
g
Sugars
0.00
g
Saturates
0.01
g
Salt

How to read GI & GL

GI (Glycemic Index) rates how fast the carbohydrates in a food raise blood glucose compared to pure glucose (= 100). Low GI ≤ 55 means a slow, steady rise. But GI says nothing about how much carbohydrate you're actually eating.

GL (Glycemic Load) fixes that. It multiplies GI by the actual grams of carbohydrate per typical serving: GL = GI × carbs per serving ÷ 100. This makes it the more useful number for real-world blood sugar management.

Why they can disagree — a food with low GI can still carry a high GL if the serving is large and carb-dense. Conversely, watermelon has a high GI (72) but a low GL (4) because a normal portion contains very few carbs. Always read both together.

Low GL ≤ 10 Modest total glucose impact per serving.
Medium GL 11–19 Moderate impact — manageable for most.
High GL ≥ 20 Significant carb load per serving. Consider a smaller portion.

Source: Atkinson et al., International Tables of GI & GL Values 2021, Am J Clin Nutr.

Glycemic Index & Load

60
GI Score
🟡 Medium GI
3
GL / Serving
Low Load

Medium GI food — moderate effect on blood sugar. Pair with protein, fat, or fibre to lower the overall meal GI.

Glycemic Load (GL = GI × carbs ÷ 100) accounts for portion size. A low GL means this food has minimal real-world blood sugar impact.

Vitamins & Minerals

Nutrient Per 100g % Daily Value* Level
Calcium 10.0 mg 1%
Potassium 5.00 mg 0%
Magnesium 2.00 mg 1%
Phosphorus 1.00 mg 0%
Iron 0.200 mg 1%
Copper 0.120 mg 12%
Zinc 0.100 mg 1%
Vitamin B12 0.000 µg 0%
Vitamin B6 0.000 mg 0%
Niacin (B3) 0.000 mg 0%
Thiamin (B1) 0.000 mg 0%
Vitamin D 0.000 µg 0%
Vitamin A (RE) 0.000 µg 0%
Niacin equivalents (NE) 0.000 mg 0%
Manganese 0.000 mg 0%
Folate 0.000 µg 0%
Chloride 0.000 mg 0%
Pantothenic Acid (B5) 0.000 mg 0%
Riboflavin (B2) 0.000 mg 0%
Vitamin E (alpha-TE) 0.000 mg 0%
Vitamin C 0.000 mg 0%
Selenium 0.000 µg 0%
Iodine 0.000 µg 0%
Polyunsaturated fat (PUFA) 0.000 g —
Trans fat 0.000 g —
Monounsaturated fat 0.000 g —
Sucrose 100 g —
Glucose (dextrose) 0.000 g —
Maltose 0.000 g —
Fructose 0.000 g —
Cholesterol 0.000 mg —
Beta-carotene 0.000 µg —
Retinol (vitamin A) 0.000 µg 0%
Biotin (Vitamin B7) 0.000 µg 0%

* % Daily Value is the proportion of an adult EU Nutrient Reference Value (NRV) supplied by 100g of this food. NRVs are the labelling standard — the same basis as the “%RI” figures printed on food packaging — so these percentages are directly comparable with a shop label. They are a single adult figure and do not vary by age or sex, which is why they sometimes differ from UK dietary reference values: the NRV for vitamin C is 80mg where the UK RNI is 40mg. When Nutriofia assesses your own intake in the reports and trackers, it uses the age- and sex-specific UK values instead.

Fibre is shown without a percentage. Our fibre values use the UK Englyst NSP method, while the published 30g daily goal is an AOAC figure — the two are measured differently and a single percentage would mislead. How we source and normalise our data →

Sources: NHS Sugar; CoFID 2021
Prepared & Other Baking 🇬🇧 CoFID 2021 · 17-063