How much sugar is in a can of spite?

Answer 1

It depends on what you mean by "sugar". If you're referring to sucrose, aka "table sugar", like most people, most soft drink brands, including Sprite, do not use sucrose anymore. They use high-fructose corn syrup.

However, the "fructose" in high-fructose corn syrup is included in the more general definition of "sugar", as is glucose (which is also present in high-fructose corn syrup). In fact, there are several different compounds, all ending with "ose", and all of them sweet to some degree, that are called "sugar", in the general (but less-used) sense of the word.

If you're using this general definition of "sugar" (including fructose, glucose, lactose, galactose, and all the other ose's as well as sucrose), then the information you need is right there on the can. It should say "Sugars", followed by the number of grams of sugars in one serving (usually 1 can). For instance, I'm looking at a can of Coca Cola now that says 39 grams of sugars. If it doesn't tell you how much "sugars" is in your Sprite can, it should at least give the number of grams of "Carbohydrates". Carbohydrates include both sugars and starches (which are really just multiple sugar molecules linked together in a long chain molecule). But there aren't any starches in soft drinks, so the amount of carbohydrates printed on the can should be identical to the amount of sugars.

Then again, some soft drink makers are now selling "throwback" versions of their products. Not only are these soft drinks sold in "old-style" cans, but the makers have reverted to the original recipes (or something close to them), which DID contain ordinary table sugar (sucrose). I do not know if Sprite is one of those soft drinks now available in a "throwback" version, but if it is, you should still be able to find the quantity of "sugars" (which, in this case, should be only sucrose, no fructose or glucose) printed on the can.