Dietary Guidelines Recommend Limiting Added Sugar to Less Than 10% of Calories

The new Dietary Guidelines for Americans say that healthy eating patterns limit added sugars to less than 10 percent of calories per day. This recommendation is a target to help the public achieve a healthy eating pattern, which means meeting nutrient and food group needs through nutrient-dense food and beverage choices and staying within calorie limits. This target is informed by national data on intakes of calories from added sugars, which account on average for almost 270 calories, or more than 13 percent of calories per day in the U.S. population.