Does milk contain sugar?

Milk contains the naturally occurring sugar, lactose (approximately 4.8 g per 100 ml). Generally sugar is not added to milk unless specified in the ingredients list e.g. in flavoured milks. Nutritionally, lactose is not classified in the same category as ‘free’ or ‘added’ sugars.

Extra Information:

Both the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition (SACN) and the World Health Organisation (WHO) have focused on restricting added or free sugars, generally defined as ‘all monosaccharides and disaccharides added to foods by the manufacturer, cook or consumer, plus sugars naturally present in honey, syrups and unsweetened fruit juices’. The naturally occurring sugar present in milk (lactose) does not fall into this category, yet it must be declared as ‘sugar’ on the nutrition information label.