The Sugar Tier System

NoSugarForKids Rating Methodology · Updated 2026-06-19

The Sugar Tier System is a five-tier classification (A through E) of added sugar in children’s packaged snacks. Every one of the 2,282 published products on this site is scored against the same rubric, using the same data sources, regardless of brand or commercial relationship.

The A–E Tier Definitions

Products are sorted into five tiers based on added sugar per serving. Thresholds align with FDA labeling rules where applicable and with American Heart Association daily-limit guidance for children 2–18 (25g of added sugar per day; zero for children under 2).

Tier A uses the FDA “sugar free” threshold (less than 0.5g total sugar per serving). Tier B requires a confirmed 0g added sugar claim on the nutrition label. Tiers C-E are assigned by added sugar per serving when available, with total sugar as an upper bound when the added-sugar field is missing.

Data Sources

• USDA FoodData Central — primary source for nutrition facts on branded products.
• Open Food Facts — open community database used to fill gaps in USDA coverage.
• Kroger API — pricing, pack sizes, and ingredient statements on retail SKUs.
• Shopify brand feeds — direct product catalogs from participating brands.
• Gemini OCR — used to read nutrition panels from product-label images when no structured source has current data.

Data Refresh Cadence

The catalog is refreshed weekly. Nutrition values are verified against the source-of-truth at ingest and re-verified quarterly. When a manufacturer changes a formulation, we re-ingest the full record and re-run the tier classifier.

Editorial Process

Each product is classified by an automated rubric (tier = f(added sugar per serving)). Edge cases — products with high natural sugar (e.g. fruit pouches, 100% juice), or those sweetened with stevia, erythritol, or monk fruit — are hand-reviewed before publication. The tier assigned to a product does not change based on brand, popularity, or commercial relationship.

Conflict of Interest Disclosure

We earn affiliate commissions from Amazon, Walmart, and Target clickouts. Tier ratings are determined before affiliate links are added and are never influenced by commissions. No brand has ever paid for placement, a tier change, or a positive review on this site.

Primary References

Tier thresholds and daily-limit framing trace to the four sources below. Direct quotes from each citation are reproduced verbatim in the relevant per-tier explainer at /learn/sugar-tiers.

1. U.S. Food and Drug Administration. (2020). Added Sugars on the Nutrition Facts Label.
2. Vos, M. B., et al. for the American Heart Association. (2016). Added Sugars and Cardiovascular Disease Risk in Children. Circulation, 135(19), e1017–e1034.
3. Baker-Smith, C. M., et al. for the American Academy of Pediatrics. (2019). The Use of Nonnutritive Sweeteners in Children. Pediatrics, 144(5), e20192765.
4. U.S. Department of Agriculture & U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (2020). Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2020–2025.

How to Cite This Work

Working journalists, dietitians, and researchers — please use the citation below when referencing the Sugar Tier System. Permission to quote up to 200 words and reproduce the tier-definition table with attribution is granted; longer excerpts or republication of product data require written permission (see press inquiries below).

Correction Policy

Errors? Email corrections@nosugarforkids.com. We verify and update within 7 days. Material corrections are noted on the affected product or article page.

Press & Source Inquiries

Journalists, dietitians, and researchers writing on children’s nutrition can reach the editorial team for expert source comment, access to product-level dataset extracts, or methodology Q&A:

press@nosugarforkids.com · we respond within 1 business day.

Built and maintained by the NoSugarForKids editorial team, led by Nikunj Kothari. The Sugar Tier System is open methodology — the rubric, the per-tier thresholds, and the source-attribution rules are all publicly documented above and on /learn/sugar-tiers.