You grab a granola bar from your pantry, thinking you’re making a smart choice. Maybe you reach for that colorful yogurt cup or a bottled smoothie while rushing through the grocery store. These are healthy options, right? That’s what the labels tell us. The packaging promises nutrition, energy, and wellness.
Here’s the thing, though. An average Krispy Kreme glazed donut has only 10 grams of sugar. Let that sink in for a moment. Many so-called healthy snacks sitting in your kitchen right now contain significantly more sugar than that iconic glazed ring of fried dough. The food industry has become remarkably skilled at disguising sugar bombs as nutritious choices, and we’ve been falling for it.
What you’re about to discover might change how you look at your snack drawer forever.
1. Flavored Greek Yogurt
Greek yogurt has a stellar reputation as a protein powerhouse, and plain varieties certainly deserve that praise. The flavored versions tell a different story entirely. Noosa Lemon Yoghurt contains 21 grams of sugar per serving, with 14 of those being added sugar. That’s double what you’d find in a glazed donut.
Researchers surveyed the sugar content of over 900 yogurts in U.K. supermarkets and found that the average amount of sugar across yogurt categories was well above 10 grams per 100 gram serving. Even Greek yogurt, marketed as the healthier choice, isn’t immune. Cabot Triple Cream Vanilla Bean Greek Yogurt stands out as one of the worst offenders, with the highest sugar content of any Greek yogurt reviewed, plus 8 grams of saturated fat which can elevate cholesterol levels.
The sneaky part? Sugar accounts for 60 percent of the calories in some children’s favorite yogurts. You think you’re feeding yourself or your kids something beneficial, packed with calcium and probiotics. In reality, you’re consuming what amounts to a dessert masquerading as breakfast.
2. Granola Bars
According to a New York Times survey, around 70% of Americans deem granola bars as “healthy”. That perception needs a reality check. Kellogg’s Special K bar has around 15 grams of sugar, which is more than a Dunkin’ donut. These portable snacks seem convenient and wholesome, wrapped in earth-toned packaging with images of oats and honey.
Kellogg’s Nutri-Grain Harvest granola bars can contain up to 15 grams of sugar per serving, mostly from added sugar. The problem goes deeper than just the sugar count. Granola is more like junk food in disguise, packed with calories, carbs, fat, and tons of sugar.
Recent research from 2025 reveals the scope of this issue. The M&S Dark Chocolate Date Bar delivered 26.5g of sugar per serving, while Kellogg’s Rice Krispies Squares Caramel & Chocolate contained 14g. You’d honestly be better off understanding exactly what you’re eating instead of trusting the health halo around these bars.
3. Bottled Smoothies
Walk past any convenience store cooler and you’ll see rows of colorful bottled smoothies promising fruits, vegetables, and vitality in liquid form. The truth is considerably less appealing. Registered Dietitian Marlene Koch says that most bottled smoothies contain between 18 and 28 grams of added sugar. That’s approaching three glazed donuts worth of sugar in a single bottle.
Naked Juice Blue Machine delivers 270 calories and a whopping 64 grams of carbohydrates with 53 grams of sugar. Perhaps most shocking is what’s actually inside these bottles. Naked’s Blue Machine smoothie lists blueberry, goji berry and blackcurrant on the front but it’s 83% apple – 71% apple juice from concentrate and 12% apple puree, with blueberry puree accounting for just 7%.
The “no added sugar” claim on some bottles is misleading at best. Natural fruit sugar still impacts your blood glucose the same way. Odwalla’s Original Superfood is vegan and claims to have “no added sugar,” but contains 51 grams of sugar. Your body doesn’t care whether the sugar came from a factory or a fruit.
4. Protein Bars
Fitness enthusiasts have long relied on protein bars as convenient post-workout fuel or meal replacements. The irony? Some protein bars on the market have 30 grams of added sugar, and many have 20 grams, which is on par with many candy bars. You’re essentially eating a candy bar with a fitness logo slapped on the wrapper.
The Myprotein flapjack contains 324 calories and an impressive 20g of sugar, almost twice as much as a donut. The Nutramino Protein Bar contains 4g more sugar than a donut and more than twice the fat found in a Mars bar.
Many brands contain added sugars and artificial sweeteners such as high-fructose corn syrup, which have been linked to an abundance of health harms, including fatty liver syndrome, insulin resistance and diabetes, and adults consume two to three times the recommended amount of added sugar every day. The protein content doesn’t magically cancel out the sugar damage.
5. Dried Cranberries
Dried fruit seems like an obvious healthy choice. It’s just fruit with the water removed, right? Not quite. Ocean Spray dried cranberries have added sugar on top of the naturally concentrated sugar from the drying process, making them basically pieces of candy equivalent to almost three glazed donuts.
The dehydration process concentrates the natural sugars already present in fruit. Then manufacturers often add even more sugar because dried cranberries are quite tart without it. What you end up with is a sugar delivery system that happens to have originated from fruit.
You might toss a handful into your salad thinking you’re adding nutritional value. In reality, you’re garnishing your vegetables with something that has more sugar than the dessert you’re trying to avoid. The small serving sizes listed on packages are deceptive too. Most people eat considerably more than the quarter cup typically listed.
6. Vitamin Water
The name alone suggests health benefits, and the marketing reinforces that impression with promises of essential vitamins and hydration. If you drank a 20-ounce Vitaminwater Essential, you’d consume 27 grams of sugar, nearly three glazed donuts in liquid form. Let that visual marinate for a minute.
If you include crystalline fructose, Vitamin Water has the same sugar as a Coca-Cola. At least Coca-Cola doesn’t pretend to be a health drink. The vitamins added to these beverages don’t offset the damage from the sugar load. Most of Vitamin Water’s sugar is fructose, the most dangerous type, and scientists reported that fructose is worse for your health than glucose, linked to metabolic syndrome, type 2 diabetes, and heart disease.
You’re far better off drinking plain water and getting your vitamins from actual food. The convenience of a flavored beverage isn’t worth the metabolic cost.
7. Nutella
Nutella occupies a strange space in our collective consciousness. We know it’s a spread made primarily of chocolate and hazelnuts, yet somehow it maintains an aura of being acceptable for breakfast. Two tablespoons of Nutella pack 21 grams of sugar, equal to a Dunkin Donuts Frosted Chocolate Creme or two Krispy Kreme glazed donuts.
Nutella has been praised as a healthier alternative for chocolate, though it offers only trace amounts of iron and calcium and is mainly sugar. The hazelnut content is minimal. The chocolate is heavily processed. What remains is essentially frosting in a jar with aggressive marketing.
Parents spread this on toast for their children’s breakfast, believing the “hazelnut” part makes it nutritious. The truth is you’d be nutritionally better off giving them actual chocolate and some nuts on the side. At least that way the sugar bomb would be acknowledged rather than disguised.
8. Jarred Pasta Sauce
This one catches people completely off guard. Who expects their marinara sauce to compete with desserts in sugar content? Chunky Ragu’s Garlic & Onion sauce contains 12 grams of sugar, matching the sugar content of a glazed donut. Ragu pasta sauce lists sugar as the third ingredient, before the onion or garlic.
Tomatoes do contain natural sugars, but that accounts for only a fraction of what’s in these jars. Manufacturers add substantial amounts of sugar to balance the acidity of tomatoes and create a flavor profile that keeps consumers coming back. The result is that your “healthy” home-cooked pasta dinner is loaded with hidden sugar.
Check the ingredient list next time you’re in the grocery store. You’ll be shocked how many savory products list sugar in the top five ingredients. This practice of adding sugar to virtually everything is a major contributor to excessive consumption.
9. Flavored Instant Oatmeal
Oatmeal represents the pinnacle of wholesome breakfast foods in many people’s minds. The instant flavored varieties, however, tell a different story. Instant oatmeal labeled “Heart Healthy” contains 12 grams of sugar, and should be called “Sugar & Artificial Flavors” instead of “Apples & Cinnamon” with how much of the sweet stuff is packed into each pouch.
Plain oatmeal is genuinely nutritious, providing fiber and sustained energy. The flavored packets destroy that benefit by loading each serving with sugar. You’re better off buying plain oats and adding your own cinnamon and a small amount of real maple syrup. At least then you control the sweetness level.
The “heart healthy” label is technically allowed because of the oats themselves, but it’s deeply misleading when the sugar content works against cardiovascular health. This is regulatory loopholes at their finest, and consumers pay the price.
10. Trail Mix
Trail mix evokes images of hiking through mountains, a blend of nuts and dried fruit providing sustained energy for outdoor adventures. An average pack of trail mix has 10 grams of sugar, while some like Planter’s fruit and nut mix raises that amount to 13 grams. The problem is the dried fruit and chocolate additions that dominate most commercial varieties.
If you mix the right ingredients, trail mix can be a healthy, filling snack, but the amount of chocolate and dried fruit in most trail mixes turn them into a dessert. Yogurt-covered raisins, which appear in many mixes, are particularly problematic as the yogurt coating usually contains hydrogenated oils.
The serving size listed on packages is usually one-quarter cup, which fits in a cupped palm. Most people consume two to four times that amount, especially when eating straight from the bag. Suddenly that “healthy snack” delivers as much sugar as multiple donuts without you even realizing it.
