Our Sugar Policy

Our Sugar Policy

We guarantee our products are free from surprise sugars. That doesn’t mean no sugar, simply that we have strict limits for sugars in places where you’d least expect them, like supplements and protein powders.

We’re on the lookout for ‘free sugar’ - that’s the sugar that is added to foods for flavour (and also found in fruit juices, syrups and honey). The World Health Organisation (WHO) recommends that people consume less than 5 – 10 % of their daily intake of food from free sugars in order to prevent the negative health outcomes associated with a high sugar intake. The risks to our health from increased sugar include weight gain, dental cavities, behavioural issues in children, and the diseases associated with weight gain and obesity. 5% is the equivalent of roughly 25 grams or 6 teaspoons of sugar.

Our sugar limits apply to:

  • Supplements, including powders, gummies, chewable, liquids
  • Cereals and snack bars
  • Protein powders

We don’t set sugar limits on products which you’d expect to be high in sugar:

  • Sugar, for example coconut sugar
  • Honey, because it is a food that is eaten in small amounts and it is a beautifully nutritious wholefood sweetener
  • Chocolate, chocolate covered products, chocolate drink mixes, biscuits, and macaroons as these are ‘treat foods’
  • Lozenges, because sugar is required for the creation of a hard lozenge.
  • Syrups, because sugar is required to create a syrup.

Our sugar limits

Item Maximum Sugar

Cereals

15g per 100g if added sugar

17g per 100g if only fruit/honey used as sweetener.

Gummies / chewable supplements 

4g per serve

Muesli bars / snack bars / snack balls

25 grams per 100g
If sugar is above 15gm per 100gm, there must be at least 5g per 100g of fibre 

Protein Powders

4gm added sugar per 100gm

6.5gm total sugar per 100gm 

What about artificial sweeteners?

Our Red List of banned ingredients includes ‘first generation’ artificial sweeteners, meaning we don’t stock products containing: Aspartame (951), Cyclamate (952), Saccharin (954). 

From our extensive research, there wasn’t sufficient evidence to restrict ‘second generation’ artificial sweeteners. Therefore, we do stock products that may contain these artificial sweeteners, including: Acesulfame K (950), Sucralose (955), Neotame (961). We do encourage suppliers to use natural sweeteners as often as possible.

If you want to avoid artificial sweeteners altogether, you can shop our Artificial Sweetener Free range.