By Linda Garrould · Reviewed April 2026 · Conversions updated 27 June 2026 · 9 min read
30g of sugar, made visible
It’s the NHS daily limit for added sugar — and it hides in more everyday foods than you’d guess.
🥄
≈7 tsp
of granulated sugar
🍴
2.4 tbsp
level tablespoons
🧊
7 cubes
per NHS rounding
🔥
~120 kcal
of pure energy
30 grams is not a lot of sugar. It’s about seven level teaspoons — less than you’d think, and less than most of us eat in a typical day without realising.
In the UK, the NHS recommends that adults and children over 11 should get no more than 5% of their daily calories from “free sugars” — the sugar added to food and drink by manufacturers, plus the sugar naturally present in honey, syrups, and fruit juice. For most people, that 5% works out at around 30 grams a day.
The tricky part is that 30g goes fast. One glass of cola is already over the limit. A flavoured yoghurt, a fruit smoothie and a chocolate biscuit will together tip you well past it. Below, I’ll show you what 30g actually looks like in the foods you probably have in your kitchen right now, give you quick conversions for cooking, and share the handful of swaps that made the biggest difference for our family.
30g of sugar in nine everyday foods
Here’s where 30g actually lives in a typical British kitchen. The numbers below are for a standard serving — not a whole packet. Notice how a single fizzy drink can blow the daily limit in one go, while a tablespoon of ketchup barely registers.
🔴 Can of cola
330ml · 1 can
35g
Over the daily limit
🟠 Orange juice
250ml glass
22g
Most of the limit
🟠 Flavoured latte
Medium, 1 cup
20g
Two-thirds of the limit
🟠 Fruit yoghurt
150g pot
18g
Over half the limit
🔴 Large muffin
Blueberry, 1 muffin
28g
Nearly a day in one bite
🟠 Chocolate digestive
1 biscuit
5g
Modest — but they add up fast
🟡 Ketchup
1 tablespoon
4g
Low — but check per 100g
🟢 Red wine
175ml glass
~1g
Almost nothing (dry wine)
🟢 Plain Greek yoghurt
150g pot
~5g
Natural lactose only
How much is 30g of sugar? Quick conversions
All the common conversions in one place. All figures are for granulated white sugar — brown and icing sugars vary slightly because of grain size.
| Measure | 30g of sugar equals |
|---|---|
| Teaspoons | ≈7 tsp (a level teaspoon of granulated sugar holds ~4.2g, so 30 ÷ 4.2 = 7.1) |
| Tablespoons | 2.4 tbsp (a level tablespoon holds ~12.6g; 1 tbsp = 3 tsp) |
| US cups | just over ⅛ cup (≈2.4 US tbsp) |
| Sugar cubes | 7 cubes (NHS rounding; a cube is 4g so 7 ½ is the strict answer) |
| Calories | ~120 kcal (sugar is ~4 kcal/g) |
| Weight | 30g · 1.06oz |
Need to convert a different amount? A level teaspoon of granulated sugar is about 4.2g, and a level tablespoon about 12.6g.
Sugar converter: grams to teaspoons, tablespoons, cups & cubes
Enter any weight and choose your sugar — granulated, caster, light brown or icing — to convert grams into teaspoons, tablespoons, US cups and sugar cubes. It works both ways, so you can start from spoons and read off the grams too.
Sugar converter
Based on granulated or caster sugar at about 12.6 g per level tablespoon (4.2 g per level teaspoon). Sugar cubes assume a 4 g white cube; energy at 4 kcal per gram.
| Granulated / caster sugar | Level tsp | Level tbsp | US cups | Sugar cubes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 25 g | 6 tsp | 2 tbsp | 0.12 cup | 6.3 cubes |
| 30 g | 7.1 tsp | 2.4 tbsp | 0.15 cup | 7.5 cubes |
| 33 g | 7.9 tsp | 2.6 tbsp | 0.16 cup | 8.3 cubes |
| 35 g | 8.3 tsp | 2.8 tbsp | 0.17 cup | 8.8 cubes |
| 40 g | 9.5 tsp | 3.2 tbsp | 0.2 cup | 10 cubes |
How 30g compares to other daily sugar totals
If your search began with a different amount, here is how it lines up against the NHS adult daily free-sugar limit of 30g. The same swaps and conversions in the rest of this guide scale up or down for any amount.
What does 15g of sugar look like?
15g of sugar is half the NHS adult daily limit — roughly a typical bowl of granola with milk, or about 3 ½ teaspoons. It is also close to the daily free-sugar limit the NHS recommends for children aged 4–6 (19g).
What does 25g of sugar look like?
25g is about six level teaspoons, or about 5g less than the NHS adult daily limit. Picture a 250ml glass of orange juice plus a small pot of fruit yoghurt — that combination already gets an adult close to 40g before lunch.
What does 35g of sugar look like?
35g of sugar is the entire contents of a single 330ml can of regular cola — already 5g past the NHS adult daily limit. In teaspoons that is just over eight.
What does 38g of sugar look like?
38g of sugar is roughly a 330ml can of cola plus a single chocolate digestive. That is about nine teaspoons, or 27% over the NHS adult daily limit of 30g.
What does 40g of sugar look like?
40g of sugar is about 9 ½ teaspoons — close to two medium flavoured lattes, or one and a quarter 330ml cans of cola. It is a third over the NHS adult daily limit.
How 30g disappears before lunch
It’s easier to see the problem with a real Saturday morning. Here’s a breakfast most of us would call “fairly healthy”:
- 8 am — Bowl of granola with milk → ~15g
- 9 am — Glass of orange juice → ~22g
- 10 am — Flat white with one sugar → ~5g
That’s 42 grams before 11 am — already 40% over the NHS limit, and we haven’t touched lunch. The daytime drinks are usually the biggest culprits in our house; swapping juice for water and taking coffee unsweetened recovers about 25g straight away. The other easy swap is the cereal itself: a boiled or poached egg on wholemeal toast is sugar-free and keeps everyone full until lunch, and our dippy egg timer and poached egg timer take the guesswork out of getting it right.
My top tips for reducing sugar
Five changes made the biggest difference for us — each one is small, but together they recover 20–30g of sugar a day.
💧 Dilute fruit juice 50/50
Pure juice is one of the most sugar-dense drinks in the fridge. Diluting it halves the sugar, softens the acidity on your teeth, and tastes more refreshing after a few days.
🔍 Read per 100g, not per serving
Manufacturers choose flattering serving sizes. Per 100g lets you compare like-for-like. Anything over 22.5g per 100g is officially “high sugar” under UK labelling rules.
🫐 Swap fruit yoghurt for plain + berries
A fruit yoghurt can carry 18g of sugar. Plain Greek yoghurt plus a handful of berries gives you the same creamy-sweet breakfast for around 6g.
🥤 Fizzy drinks as a weekend treat, not a weekday drink
One can of cola (35g) is already over the daily limit. Sparkling water with a squeeze of lemon scratches the same itch for zero sugar.
🧁 Bake with a third less sugar
Most home-baking recipes can lose a third of their sugar with no change in taste or texture. Cakes stay moist; biscuits still brown. Try it once and you won’t go back.
How much sugar is in your favourite drinks?
Drinks are usually where 30 grams disappears. Some look healthy and aren’t; others look indulgent but barely register. Two of the most common questions:
Sugar in a glass of wine
Wine is one of the few drinks that looks worse than it is on sugar. A standard 175ml glass of dry red or white wine has around 1g of sugar — almost nothing. Dessert wines, sweet rosés and alcopops are a different story and can run 6–15g a glass.
Where wine does matter for sugar is volume. A single bottle of sweet dessert wine can carry a full 30g daily allowance, and alcohol lowers your appetite regulation, so a night of drinks often leads to sweet snacks you wouldn’t normally choose.
Sugar in a can of cola
A standard 330ml can of regular cola contains around 35g of sugar — already over the NHS daily limit for an adult in a single drink. A 500ml bottle takes you past 52g.
Diet and zero-sugar versions use artificial sweeteners instead, so their sugar count is effectively zero, though the research on sweeteners is its own conversation.
Free sugars, natural sugars and carbs: what’s the difference?
Two questions come up almost every time someone tries to cut their sugar intake. The short answers:
Are some sugars better than others?
Technically all sugars are chemically similar once they reach your bloodstream. The difference is in what comes with them. The sugar in an apple comes packaged with fibre, water and vitamins, which slow down the release into your bloodstream. The sugar in a fizzy drink arrives alone — fast, sharp, and easy to overconsume. That’s why the NHS limit applies to free sugars (added sugar, honey, syrups, fruit juice) and not to whole fruit.
Are sugar and carbohydrates the same thing?
Broadly, yes. Carbohydrates are either sugars or starches, and a starch is just a long chain of sugar molecules that your body breaks down into sugar during digestion. What matters for health isn’t the label — it’s whether the carb arrives with fibre (slow, steady energy) or on its own (a quick spike).
Read next
Three more pieces from the kitchen — leaning towards the lower-sugar end of the menu:
- Quick & simple healthy lasagne by Jamie Oliver — a family favourite that keeps the tomato sauce honest, with no hidden teaspoons of sugar in the base.
- Chantenay carrots — three ways — a naturally sweet veg that needs no help from the sugar bowl, three quick ways to cook them.
- More family food & drink articles — recipes, reviews and pantry tips from the Saturday & Sunday kitchen.
30g of sugar: frequently asked questions
How many teaspoons is 30g of sugar?
30g of granulated sugar is about 7 level teaspoons, based on a level teaspoon of granulated sugar holding ~4.2g (30 ÷ 4.2 = 7.1).
Is 30g of sugar too much in one day?
No — 30g is the maximum daily amount of free sugar recommended by the NHS for adults and children aged 11+, not a minimum. Most people in the UK eat well above this, so 30g is usually a target to stay under, not hit.
Does the 30g limit include fruit?
No. The 30g limit is specifically for free sugars — added sugar, honey, syrups and fruit juice. Whole fresh fruit doesn’t count, because its fibre slows absorption. Fruit juice does count because the juicing process releases the sugar.
How much is 30g of sugar in tablespoons?
About 2.4 level tablespoons of granulated white sugar (a level tablespoon holds roughly 12.6g).
How many sugar cubes is 30g?
The NHS rounds it to 7 cubes. A standard UK sugar cube weighs 4g, so the mathematically strict answer is 7 ½ cubes — but 7 is the figure the NHS uses in guidance.
Is 30g of sugar a lot for a child?
For children aged 7–10, the NHS recommends a lower daily limit of 24g. For ages 4–6, it’s 19g. Under-4s are advised to avoid sugar-sweetened drinks and foods with added sugar altogether.
What does 35g of sugar look like?
35g of sugar is the entire contents of a 330ml can of regular cola — just over eight teaspoons, or about 17% over the NHS adult daily limit of 30g.
What does 25g of sugar look like?
25g of sugar is about six level teaspoons. Picture a 250ml glass of orange juice plus a small pot of fruit yoghurt — that combination already gets an adult to two-thirds of the NHS daily limit.
What does 40g of sugar look like?
40g of sugar is about 9 ½ teaspoons — close to two medium flavoured lattes, or one and a quarter 330ml cans of cola. It is a third over the NHS adult daily limit.
How quickly does 30g of sugar add up?
Easily. A single can of cola (35g) will take you past it. A glass of orange juice (22g) plus a flavoured yoghurt (18g) will too. The drinks you consume are almost always the biggest contributor.
How many tablespoons is 30g of caster sugar?
Caster sugar has practically the same density as granulated, so 30g is about 2.4 level tablespoons — the same as 7 level teaspoons.
How many tablespoons is 30g of brown sugar?
Packed light brown sugar is a little denser than white, so 30g is about 2.2 level tablespoons, or roughly 6½ level teaspoons.
How many tablespoons is 30g of icing sugar?
Icing (powdered) sugar is much lighter, so 30g is about 4 level tablespoons — around 12 level teaspoons.
How many sugar cubes is 35g?
About 8¾ cubes. A standard UK sugar cube is 4g, so 35 ÷ 4 = 8.75.
How do I convert grams of sugar to teaspoons?
For granulated or caster sugar, divide the grams by 4.2 for level teaspoons, or by 12.6 for level tablespoons. Brown sugar is denser and icing sugar lighter, so use the converter above to switch type.
About the author
Linda Garrould writes about real-life family food at Saturday & Sunday — straightforward home cooking, weekend baking and gentle changes that make midweek eating a little better. The figures in this article were checked against current NHS Eatwell Guide and food-labelling guidance in April 2026.
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