No added sugar before age 11: check a label in one second

American kids deserve better.

If you pack snacks for a child: US guidance says no added sugar before 11 [1]. Check one line: “Includes __g Added Sugars” [2].

What we choose instead

Raw organic almond butter

Artisana Organics · USDA Organic · 3,053 Amazon ratings

Nothing added: the ingredient list is almonds.

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Raw cashew butter

Artisana Organics · Non-GMO Project · 3,744 Amazon ratings

No sugar added: the ingredient list is cashews.

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Organic rolled oats

Quaker · USDA Organic · 2,944 Amazon ratings

Nothing added: the ingredient list is organic rolled oats.

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As an Amazon Associate, Bloom earns from qualifying purchases.

The evidence

  1. CDC, citing the Dietary Guidelines for Americans: children younger than 11 should not have any added sugar. [1]Established
  2. From 2021 to 2023, 55.9% of US children aged 1 to 5 had at least one sugar-sweetened drink in the past 7 days. [1]Established
  3. The Nutrition Facts label lists added sugars in grams and as a percent of the Daily Value, which is 50 g a day. [2]Established
  4. WHO advises keeping free sugars under 10% of daily energy, based on weight gain and tooth decay. [3]Established

Scenario A or B

A. A nut butter whose list reads “peanuts, sugar, palm oil, salt”. The Added Sugars line is above zero.
B. A nut butter whose list reads “almonds”. Nothing was added, so there is no added sugar to count.

What is going on

Added sugar is sugar put in during processing: table sugar, honey, syrups, fruit-juice concentrate. Sugar that is naturally in milk or whole fruit is not counted as added [2].

Since the label change, the Nutrition Facts panel shows added sugar on its own line, under Total Sugars [2]. That one line answers the question for most packed foods.

The ingredient list is the second check. When the list is one item, like almonds or rolled oats, nothing was added.

What this page does not say

Bloom does not say these foods help weight, teeth or anything else. They are foods with one-item ingredient lists. Ask your paediatrician about your child’s diet.

More answers

How Bloom checks a product

Bloom lists a product only when it has at least 1,000 Amazon ratings, its full ingredient or material list is published, it has no synthetic red flags, food and drinks are organic by nature, and fabrics carry a named organic certification; personal care, baby care, supplements and household products are held to a clean-formula standard instead of an organic one. Nobody pays to be listed.

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Sources

  1. Added Sugars (29 April 2026) cdc.gov
  2. Added Sugars on the Nutrition Facts Label fda.gov
  3. Healthy diet fact sheet who.int

As an Amazon Associate, Bloom earns from qualifying purchases. Bloom explains labels, ingredients and certifications. Nothing here is medical advice.