About
Cane sugar is crystalline sucrose—a disaccharide of glucose and fructose—extracted and refined from sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum). It is one of the most widely used food ingredients globally, functioning as a sweetener, preservative, bulking agent, and flavour-enhancing ingredient across virtually every food category.
Safety summary
Cane sugar is GRAS under US FDA regulations and approved as a basic food commodity in all major jurisdictions with no established acceptable daily intake. EFSA's 2022 comprehensive safety assessment confirmed associations between high intake of added and free sugars and chronic metabolic diseases including obesity, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and dental caries, and concluded that intake should be kept as low as possible. The WHO recommends limiting free sugars to below 10% of total daily energy intake, with a conditional recommendation to reduce further below 5%, making excess consumption a concern especially for sensitive populations.
Regulatory landscape
| Jurisdiction | Status | Note |
|---|---|---|
| FSANZ (Food Standards Australia New Zealand) (Australia) | Approved | Sucrose/cane sugar is an unrestricted basic food ingredient under the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code; no food additive number or maximum level applies. Added sugars must be declared under nutrition information panels per the Code.source |
| EFSA (European Food Safety Authority) (European Union) | Approved | Sucrose is regulated as a basic food commodity, not a food additive, under EU food law; consequently it carries no E number and is not subject to Regulation (EC) No 1333/2008 on food additives. EFSA's 2022 scientific opinion recommends added and free sugars be kept as low as possible within a nutritionally adequate diet; no tolerable upper intake level (UL) could be set due to insufficient dose-response data.source |
| FSSAI (Food Safety and Standards Authority of India) (India) | Approved | Regulated under FSS (Food Products Standards and Food Additives) Regulations, 2011, Chapter 2.8 on Sweetening Agents. Cane sugar must contain not less than 99.0% sucrose on a dry basis. FSSAI Labelling Regulations 2020 require added sugars (including sucrose) to be declared on nutrition labels of pre-packaged foods.source |
| FDA (Food and Drug Administration) (United States) | Approved | Listed as GRAS under 21 CFR 184.1854. Approved for use in food consistent with good manufacturing practices; no ADI or maximum use level established. FDA guidance also clarifies that labelling sucrose-derived sweeteners as 'evaporated cane juice' is considered false or misleading (FDA Guidance, May 2016). |
Who should approach with care
Research citations
- 1FDA. Sugar — Code of Federal Regulations Title 21, Section 184.1854. accessdata.fda.gov
- 2FSSAI. Food Safety and Standards (Food Products Standards and Food Additives) Regulations, 2011 — Chapter 2.8: Sweetening Agents Including Honey (Version 1, September 2023), 2023. fssai.gov.in
- 3EFSA. Added and free sugars should be as low as possible — EFSA Scientific Opinion on Dietary Sugars (2022), 2022. efsa.europa.eu
- 4EFSA. Protocol for the scientific opinion on the Tolerable Upper Intake Level of dietary sugars, 2018. pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- 5FDA. Guidance for Industry: Ingredients Declared as Evaporated Cane Juice, 2016. fda.gov
- 6WHO. Guideline: Sugars Intake for Adults and Children, 2015.