Health

Here's how much sugar is crammed into the bestselling drinks in America

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A taste of something sweet never hurt anyone, but you may be gulping down more sugar than you realize.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) officially recommends that we eat no more than 50 grams (about 4 tablespoons) of sugar per day, though the World Health Organization calls for half that amount.

Meanwhile, the average American consumes nearly double the FDA's guidelines — and the long-term consequences can be dire.

Canned and bottled beverages are a major contributor to US sugar intake, but colas and other sodas aren't the only drinks to blame; pre-packaged coffees, teas, and energy drinks are often loaded with the sweet stuff, too.

Here are the bestselling non-diet drinks in the US across five major categories, according to sales data that Euromonitor provided to Business Insider, and how much sugar they contain.

Coffee

Sugar_Coffee
Skye Gould/Business Insider

Colas

Sugar_Colas
Skye Gould/Business Insider

Non-Colas

Sugar_Non Colas
Skye Gould/Business Insider

Energy Drinks

Sugar_Energy Drinks
Skye Gould/Business Insider

Tea

Sugar_Tea
Skye Gould/Business Insider

Lauren F. Friedman contributed to this post.

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Skye was the Design Director for Business Insider and Insider. She led the Graphics and Photo teams in producing all graphics, data visualizations, story art, photography, and special projects for the newsroom.
Dave Mosher reported news and features stories about science and technology for Insider, with human and robotic spaceflight as the primary focus of his multimedia storytelling. Mosher joined Insider in April 2015 as a deputy editor to help launch Tech Insider and manage its science desk. He left the company in February 2021. Prior to being an Insider, Mosher directed Popular Science's website, was a Wired contributor, and worked for or with Scientific American, Popular Mechanics, Discover, Space.com, National Geographic NewsDiscovery Channel, Nature, Science, and other media outlets.