These sugars include fruit sugar, milk sugar, and grain sugar such as corn syrup and honey. Sugars have many different names, including sucrose, fructose, glucose, lactose, dextrose, and maltose. One or more of these sugars are contained in many foods, such as apples, grapes, pears, raisins, and milk. Even some medicines, such as cough syrups, contain sugars. Because many processed foods have sugars added, you will find it helpful to read food labels when you shop.
Labels list ingredients in descending, order, according to weight.
The ingredient present in the highest quantity is first on the list. It is important when selecting foods that you read the ingredient label to check for the sugar content. If foods you serve for meals or snacks are packed in a syrup, drain and rinse the food before it is served to remove as much of the sugary syrup as possible. Although children need some snacks, they should be discouraged from snacking all day long. Because so many foods contain sugars and starches that can cause the bacteria in plaque to produce acids that harm teeth, it is important to limit the number of times a day children snack between meals.