Student Worksheet

Sugar Pantry Investigation - Activity Instructions

Do you know how much sugar is in your foods? Much of the added sugar in our diet comes from the processed foods and drinks we consume. Go explore your pantry to find out how much sugar there is in the foods you have. Then use this information to create a poster advertising why it’s important to look closely at labels to identify the sugar content in your food.

On average, we consume 14-16 teaspoons of added sugar per day. Teenagers consume more than 20 teaspoons per day. The World Health Organization says we should limit our daily added sugar intake to six teaspoons for good health. To put that in perspective, there are 4 grams of sugar in one teaspoon. If something has 20 grams of sugar, that's five teaspoons of sugar!

Part A: Investigating Sugar Content

Step 1.

Read this article How Manufacturers Pull The Fat Over Our Eyes and take notes in the table:

Step 2.

Go to your fridge and/or pantry and have a look at what’s inside. Pick out three products and list them below. Before you read the label, guess what the sugar content is and write it next to each product. Then read the label and complete the last column.

Step 3.

Look at the results you have tabled. Did any of the results surprise you? Were your predictions accurate?

Part B: Poster Advertisement

Step 1.

Pick a product which had a surprisingly high sugar content. If you didn’t find any, pick one from the article.

Step 2.

Create a poster or digital advertisement that advertises the excess sugar in this product. Think about ways you could draw viewers’ attention to the sugar content and encourage them to read the label.

Taking It Further

Ask your siblings, parents or caregivers to guess the sugar content of the products you chose. See if they get it right!

Sugar Pantry Investigation

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