How Much Sugar Is in a Can of Soda? Grams and Teaspoons

How much sugar is in a can of soda? A regular 12 oz can of cola has about 39 grams, close to 10 teaspoons. That is more than the 25 grams for women and 37 grams for men the American Heart Association suggested in 2009, and more than the NHS limit of 30 grams for adults.

Photo by pic_p_ter, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

Key points

• A 12 oz (355 mL) can of Coke lists 39 grams of sugar and 138 calories in the USDA database.
• A 330 mL can, common in the UK, comes to about 36 grams by my arithmetic.
• One can a day adds up to roughly 14 kilograms of sugar in a year.
• The 2025 to 2030 Dietary Guidelines for Americans say to avoid sugar sweetened beverages such as sodas.

This is general information, not medical advice. Ask your doctor or dietitian what is right for you.

I make a quit soda app, so I have looked at these numbers more than most people. Below are cans, bottles and fountain cups, what the official limits say, and a formula for your own drink. For a cutting back plan, see How to quit soda: a 14 day plan.

How much sugar is in a can of soda?

A 12 oz can of regular cola has about 39 grams of sugar. The other regular sodas I could check land between 39 and 41 grams.

The US Department of Agriculture's FoodData Central holds label data that manufacturers submit. Its Coke record lists 39 grams of sugars and 138 calories for one 12 fl oz can, or 10.99 grams per 100 mL. The ingredient list starts with carbonated water and high fructose corn syrup, so this is added sugar, meaning sugar put in during manufacturing rather than found naturally in fruit or milk.

Drink (regular)	Sugar per 100 mL (USDA record)	About per 12 oz can
Coke	11.0 g	39 g
Sprite	10.9 g	39 g
Pepsi	11.6 g	41 g

The last column is my multiplication. These records were entered between 2017 and 2023 and recipes change, so read the label on the can in your hand. I could not open records for two more brands, so I left them out.

How many teaspoons of sugar is that?

A 12 oz can of cola is about 10 level teaspoons. I count a teaspoon as 4 grams because it makes the sums easy; the real figure is nearer 4.2.

• 36 g, a 330 mL can common in the UK: about 9 teaspoons
• 39 g, a 12 oz US can: about 10 teaspoons
• 55 g, a 16.9 oz (500 mL) bottle: about 14 teaspoons
• 104 g, a 32 oz fountain cup: about 26 teaspoons

The last three sizes come from the Coke per 100 mL figure, so they assume your drink matches that record. A fountain mix can differ. The NHS puts it in sugar cubes: a can of cola can have as much as 9 cubes, which is more than the recommended daily limit for adults.

How much added sugar is too much in a day?

The American Heart Association suggested about 25 grams for most women and 37 grams for most men. The NHS says no more than 30 grams of free sugars for adults. One can is over every one of those lines.

• American Heart Association. Its 2009 scientific statement in Circulation set a prudent upper limit of 100 calories a day from added sugars for most women and 150 for most men. At 4 calories a gram, that is about 25 and 37 grams. The AHA website may show newer rounding, but it would not open for me, so I am quoting the 2009 statement.
• Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2025 to 2030. The newest edition (the PDF is dated January 2026) says to avoid sugar sweetened beverages such as sodas, fruit drinks and energy drinks, and says one meal should contain no more than 10 grams of added sugars. A single can holds almost four meals' worth.
• NHS. Free sugars, which are sugars added to food and drinks plus those in honey, syrups and unsweetened juice, should stay under 30 grams a day for adults, 24 grams for ages 7 to 10 and 19 grams for ages 4 to 6.

The CDC lists sugar sweetened beverages, desserts and sweet snacks as the leading sources of added sugars in the American diet. These limits are guidance for whole populations, and your own situation may differ.

How much sugar does a soda habit add up to in a year?

One can a day is about 14 kilograms of sugar in a year, a little over a kilogram a month. A 32 oz fountain cup a day is about 38 kilograms.

Use this formula with your own drink:

Grams per drink x drinks per week x 52 ÷ 1,000 = kilograms per year

Worked example: two 12 oz cans a day is 14 cans a week, so 39 x 14 x 52 ÷ 1,000 = 28.4 kilograms a year. Here are common habits already worked out:

Habit	Per week	Per year
5 cans a week	195 g	10.1 kg
1 can a day	273 g	14.2 kg
1 bottle (16.9 oz) a day	385 g	20.0 kg
1 large fountain cup (32 oz) a day	728 g	37.9 kg

How can I cut down without a rule I will break?

Pick one can and one replacement. Big rules fail on the first bad Tuesday, and small ones last.

Say you drink two cans a day, which is 78 grams of sugar. Drop only the afternoon can and swap in sparkling water, and you cut 39 grams a day and 273 grams a week. Look again in two weeks, then halve the second can or move it to weekends. Many diet sodas still contain caffeine, so my caffeine withdrawal timeline is worth a read. If you manage diabetes or another condition, ask your doctor or pharmacist before changing what you drink.

How can I track the sugar I skip?

A notebook works. Write the drink, size and time, then run the formula at the end of the week. An app does the sums for you.

FizzFree is the app I built for this, so I will be specific. You pick a drink type and size, and it adds up the sugar you skipped, plus caffeine, calories and money saved. The figures are rounded typical values for each size. My can preset is 35 grams and it is sized for a 330 mL can. A US 12 oz can is about 39 grams on the label, so for US cans the app's total runs a few grams low. Treat it as a motivating estimate, not a nutrition label. There is no account, your check ins stay on your phone, and it runs on iPhone and Android, with widgets on iPhone only. Try FizzFree if you want a streak and a sugar count in one place.

Frequently asked questions

How many teaspoons of sugar are in a can of Coke?

A 12 oz can lists 39 grams of sugar, which is about 10 level teaspoons at roughly 4 grams each. A 330 mL can is closer to 9 teaspoons. The gram figure comes from the USDA database, and the teaspoon conversion is my own rounding.

Does the sugar in soda count as added sugar?

Yes. The Coke record in the USDA database lists high fructose corn syrup as an ingredient, which is an added sweetener. That is why a can counts toward the limits from the American Heart Association and the NHS, and why the Dietary Guidelines say to avoid sodas.

Is diet soda sugar free?

Diet sodas use other sweeteners in place of sugar, so the label should list close to zero grams. Read the label on your own drink, because some diet sodas still contain caffeine. A doctor or dietitian can advise you on sweeteners.

What is the daily limit for added sugar?

It depends on the source. In 2009 the American Heart Association suggested about 25 grams for most women and 37 grams for most men. The NHS says no more than 30 grams of free sugars for adults. Ask your doctor or dietitian what fits you.

How I wrote this

On 15 October 2026 I opened the USDA FoodData Central records for Coke, Pepsi and Sprite, the 2009 American Heart Association statement, the 2025 to 2030 Dietary Guidelines PDF, and the NHS and CDC pages. heart.org would not open, so I used the 2009 statement. The USDA records for two more drinks hit a rate limit, so I left them out. Where I did the arithmetic, the text says so.

This is general information, not medical or veterinary advice. Ask your doctor or vet.

By John Osakwe, founder of Etest Tech Hub. I have built apps and websites since 2015, including Etest JAMB CBT, FizzFree and Pawlarm.