SAMA HOOLE: The word sugar is not on most labels. These are. Sucrose is sugar. Dextrose is sugar. Maltose is sugar. Fructose is sugar.

The word sugar is not on most labels. These are.

Sucrose is sugar.
Dextrose is sugar.
Maltose is sugar.
Fructose is sugar.
Glucose syrup is sugar.
Invert sugar syrup is sugar.
Fruit juice concentrate is sugar.
Barley malt extract is sugar.
Rice syrup is sugar.
Agave nectar is…

— Sama Hoole (@SamaHoole) August 1, 2026

The word sugar is not on most labels. These are. Sucrose is sugar. Dextrose is sugar. Maltose is sugar. Fructose is sugar. Glucose syrup is sugar. Invert sugar syrup is sugar. Fruit juice concentrate is sugar. Barley malt extract is sugar. Rice syrup is sugar. Agave nectar is sugar. Date syrup is sugar. Honey is sugar. And then the ones that do not even have to hide, because nobody thinks to look: Starch is sugar. Bread is starch. Oats are starch. Rice is starch. Potato is starch. Pasta is starch. Starch is glucose molecules in a chain. Your saliva starts cutting that chain in your mouth, before you have swallowed. By the time it clears your small intestine it is glucose, which is the identical molecule that arrives from a spoonful of table sugar. Wholemeal bread has a glycaemic index around 74. Table sugar sits nearer 65. The bread hits your blood faster than the sugar does, and the bread is the one on the government plate. Ingredients are listed by weight, heaviest first, so splitting one substance across four names keeps any of them off the top of the list. That is the trick on the back of the packet.

The trick on the front is calling half of it wholesome.