Sugar in Maltina, Malta Guinness and Amstel Malta vs Coke

The sugar in malt drinks is close to the sugar in a Coke. Nigerian Breweries lists Maltina Classic at 10.5 g of sugar per 100 ml and Amstel Malta Classic at 9.4 g. Coca-Cola Nigeria lists Coke Original at 10.6 g of carbohydrate per 10 cl, nearly all of it sugar. A 33cl malt carries roughly what a Coke does.

Key points

• Maltina Classic: 10.5 g sugar per 100 ml, about 35 g in a 33cl bottle or can. Source: Nigerian Breweries.
• Amstel Malta Classic: 9.4 g sugar per 100 ml, about 31 g in 33cl. Source: Nigerian Breweries.
• Coke Original in Nigeria: 10.6 g of carbohydrate per 100 ml, about 35 g in 33cl. Source: Coca-Cola Nigeria.
• I could not find a Guinness Nigeria page with the sugar in Malta Guinness, so I leave it blank rather than guess. Check the label on your bottle.
• One 33cl malt is above the NHS limit of 30 g of free sugars a day for an adult.

How much sugar is in Maltina, Amstel Malta and Malta Guinness?

Here is what the makers publish. I only used manufacturer pages, plus one UK charity page for Malta Guinness calories. The 33cl column is my own multiplication, so treat it as close, not exact.

Drink	Sugar per 100 ml	Sugar in 33cl, my arithmetic	Energy per 100 ml	Source, read 24 Oct 2026
Maltina Classic	10.5 g	about 35 g	238 kJ, about 57 kcal	Nigerian Breweries
Amstel Malta Classic	9.4 g	about 31 g	224 kJ, about 54 kcal	Nigerian Breweries
Malta Guinness	not published that I could find	not known	57 kcal	Alcohol Change UK
Coca-Cola Original, Nigeria	10.6 g carbohydrate	about 35 g	42 kcal	Coca-Cola Nigeria

A note on the Coke row, because it matters. Coca-Cola Nigeria's page gives its nutrition per 10 cl, which is 100 ml. Its sugar line reads 0 g, while the ingredient list says sugar. That looks like a mistake on the page. The carbohydrate line is 10.6 g and sugar is the only ingredient that adds carbohydrate, so I use that figure.

And a note on Malta Guinness. I found UK shop listings that copy a label, but no page from Guinness Nigeria or Diageo. I would rather leave a blank than print a number I cannot trace. If you have a bottle, the label will tell you.

Is a malt drink healthier than Coke?

On sugar, not by much. Maltina and Coke land within a gram of each other per 33cl, and Amstel Malta is a few grams lower. Malt drinks have vitamins added, and Maltina and Amstel Malta list them. Coke does not. But the vitamins do not cancel the sugar.

If you think of malt as the safer drink, the one to give children instead of soda, the labels do not really support that. A bottle of Maltina carries about as much sugar as a bottle of Coke. That surprised me more than anything else in this post.

For context, the NHS says adults should have no more than 30 g of free sugars a day, about 7 sugar cubes. Sugar added to a drink counts as free sugar. One 33cl Maltina, at about 35 g, is over that line on its own. My earlier post on how much sugar is in a can of soda has the full daily limits from the NHS and the American Heart Association.

What does low sugar mean on a malt label?

In the EU, a drink can only say "low sugars" if it has no more than 2.5 g of sugar per 100 ml, and "sugars free" if it has no more than 0.5 g. I could not find the primary NAFDAC text on this for Nigeria, so I use the EU rule as a reference point, not as Nigerian law.

Measured against that line, neither classic malt in my table is close. Maltina Classic is four times the EU limit, and Amstel Malta Classic nearly four times. Amstel Malta lists stevia among its ingredients, which may be how it gets a little lower, but the page I read makes no low sugar claim.

The practical rule: look at the "sugars" line per 100 ml, not the front of the pack. Words like "lite" or "less sugar" tell you it is lower than the original, not that it is low.

Is malt a blood tonic or good for the body?

No label I read calls it one. Malt drinks are sweet soft drinks with vitamins added. Neither Nigerian Breweries page I read claims malt builds blood, cures tiredness or treats any illness, and I have not seen a study that shows it does.

Common questions I see under this topic are whether malt is good for diabetics, for ulcer patients or in pregnancy. Those are medical questions, and the honest answer is that I am not the right person. With about 31 to 35 g of sugar in a 33cl bottle, anyone managing blood sugar should ask their doctor before treating malt as a health drink.

How do I cut down on malt drinks?

The same way as soda. Pick a swap, put it where the malt used to be, and count the days. If malt is your treat at weekends, that is a different thing from a bottle every afternoon. Start with the daily one.

Some swaps that keep the cold bottle in your hand: sparkling water with lime, unsweetened zobo, or chilled water with ginger. My post on how to quit soda in 14 days has a day by day plan that works for malt too.

A note on my app, so I do not oversell it. FizzFree has three drink types: regular soda, diet soda and energy drinks. There is no malt option. If malt and soda are both your habit, it will track the soda side, with the streak, money saved and sugar skipped. For malt alone, a calendar on the fridge does the job.

Frequently asked questions

How much sugar is in a bottle of Maltina?

Nigerian Breweries lists Maltina Classic at 10.5 g of sugar per 100 ml. A 33cl bottle or can works out at about 35 g, by my arithmetic. Bigger bottles hold more, so multiply the per 100 ml figure by the size on your label.

Does malt drink have more sugar than Coke?

About the same. Maltina Classic lists 10.5 g of sugar per 100 ml and Coke Original in Nigeria lists 10.6 g of carbohydrate per 100 ml, nearly all sugar. Amstel Malta Classic is a little lower, at 9.4 g of sugar per 100 ml.

Is Amstel Malta low in sugar?

Not by the EU definition, which needs 2.5 g of sugar or less per 100 ml. Nigerian Breweries lists Amstel Malta Classic at 9.4 g per 100 ml. It is lower than Maltina Classic and Coke, but it is still a sugary drink.

How much sugar is in Malta Guinness?

I could not find a Guinness Nigeria or Diageo page with the figure, so I have not printed one. Alcohol Change UK lists Malta Guinness at 57 kcal per 100 ml. Check the nutrition panel on your bottle for the sugar line.

Is malt drink good for diabetics?

That is a question for your doctor. What the labels show is that classic malt drinks carry about 9 to 11 g of sugar per 100 ml, similar to regular soda. Anyone managing blood sugar should get advice before drinking them regularly.

How I wrote this

On 24 October 2026 I read the nutrition sections on Nigerian Breweries' pages for Maltina and Amstel Malta, Coca-Cola Nigeria's page for Coke Original, Alcohol Change UK's review of Malta Guinness, the NHS sugar page and the EU nutrition claims rules. The 33cl figures and the kcal conversions are my own arithmetic. I did not use figures from news reports on court cases about malt labels, and I could not find the primary NAFDAC rule on low sugar claims. Recipes change, so the label on your bottle beats this table.

This is general information, not medical or veterinary advice. If you have diabetes or another condition, ask your doctor about sugary drinks.

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