Added sugar in foods not only adds extra calories, it can also have direct toxic effects, such as tooth decay, and even a risk for heart disease.

Minimising the amount of added sugar in your diet is important.

However, you may not even realise how much added sugar you consume.

That’s because some unsuspecting foods you may think are healthy contain added sugar.

Dr Donald Hensrud, a physician specialising in nutrition and editor of The Mayo Clinic Diet, explains what to look out for when trying to avoid added sugar.

“Any time food is processed, there are certain things that are added. And it’s often sugar or salt,” he says.

When trying to identify how much added sugar is in packaged food, look at the nutrition food label.

You might be surprised by what you find.

“Many things you wouldn’t even suspect – some sauces, some dips, some spreads – there’s added sugars in almost every category of food products out there,” he notes.

Foods that can be surprising sources of added sugar:

• Salad dressing
• Condiments
• Canned soup
• Granola bars
• Protein bars.

“It’s been shown that, in many people, the amount of calories they get from added sugars is quite significant,” says Dr Hensrud.

He suggests paying close attention to food labels and trying to consume foods that contain natural sugars, like fruits.

Fruits are are low in calories and contain vitamins and minerals. – Mayo Clinic News Network/Tribune News Service