Why is it that in the nutritional tables behind food packages, there is no daily value for sugar?

Probably because sugar has no nutritional value and they of course dont want you to know that !!

Refined sugar is NOT nutritional. Is is probably one of the few popular food additives that could be completely eradicated and result in a huge improvement in general health.

Sugar is a source of energy the body needs. It is pure carbohydrate. There is no chance that a person would not get the food energy they need from whatever they eat during a day, even if the body has to break down fats or proteins to obtain it.

That may explain why there is no specified daily value for it.

Our ancient ancestors back in caveman times had no means of refining sugar, so apart from robbing the occasional bit of honey from bees nests, they survived quite well without any refined sugar at all. Or else we wouldnt be here.

From this it’s clear that there isn’t any MDR for sugar. Our bodies can extract however much sugar is needed for energy from the carbohydrates we eat.

Dr. Lawrence could have improved his answer by saying that “Sugar does not need to be ingested by the body, but is a source of energy that the body needs…(etc. etc.)....breakd own fats and proteins to obtain it….

@youffoniac Dr. Lawrence could have improved his answer by saying that

Putting words in another person’s mouth is not really going to make you popular. If you have something to say, why not say just say it?

@youffoniac, @Dr Lawrence would never say ”...breakd own fats…”. He would first of all use the correct form of the verb, which would be “broken”, and if he were to say “braked” he would be referring to a past tense of braking, as in applying the brakes. He would also put the “d” in front of the word “down”.

It’s part of the carbohydrate category. It tells you the DV for carbs.

I guess because there really isn’t a recommended amount for something that’s not good for us to eat, but I would be shocked if they admitted that the RDA is zero. Why not put an RDA for the amount of cocaine we’re supposed to take, too?

What’s the RDA of an anti-nutrient?

It’s bad stuff.

Seeing these answers, the question has more merit than I originally thought. Transfats are listed, as are additional unhealthy fats. If sugar has no nutritional value (yet is required in small amounts, or we will die) then isn’t it better to list something neutral instead of the bad contents found in naturally occuring amounts, such as nuts? Or are bad fats required to be listed due to government standards?

@phillis – Transfats and cholesterol are required by law to be listed.

@laureth Thank you for the link. That’s what I figured.

I second @thriftymaid‘s answer. If you are suppose to have XYZ grams of carbs per day sugar does occupy some percent of that total. There is no requirement that refined sugar be eaten but if it is this is the total to tabulate it under. (Of course it also gets tabulated towards the total calories per day total as well.)