When you think of added sugars, chances are cookies, cakes, ice cream, and baked goods come to mind. Added sugars can increase a person’s risk for high cholesterol, high blood pressure, obesity, and a number of other health issues.

The current Dietary Guidelines for Americans suggests limiting added sugar to less than 10 percent of calorie intake. For example, if you eat 2,000 calories per day, your goal is to eat less than 200 calories (50 grams) of added sugar per day.

You may think you are doing a great job of avoiding added sugars in your diet, but you would be surprised where sugar sneaks in. Take a look at these hidden sources of added sugar.

1. Dried Fruit

Dried fruit paired with nuts is a commonly recommended healthy snack. But depending on the dried fruit of your choice, it could be anything but. Companies sometimes add sugar, dextrose, glucose syrup, fruit juice, or sorbic acid, all of which are added sugars, to dried fruit to enhance flavor.

Dried cranberries almost always contain added sugars. They are such a tart fruit that when dehydrated, they need added sweeteners to be appetizing to the general public. Before you buy any dried fruit, turn over the package and make sure there are not any unhealthy added sugars on the ingredient list.

For example, if you look at the ingredient list of dried apple slices, the only ingredient should be apples!

2. Ketchup

Do you know what is in ketchup? Most people do not think much further than tomatoes, but if you look at the label, you will see that ketchup is fairly high in sugar.

Ketchup has 4 grams of sugar per tablespoon. It is not uncommon for people to eat 8-10 tablespoons of ketchup at a meal. That is 32-40 grams of added sugar – just from a condiment!

3. Oatmeal

Many grab-and-go breakfast places are putting oatmeal on their menu as a healthy alternative to their high fat, high carb breakfast sandwiches. The catch is the oatmeal is often flavored with sugar and syrup.

Between the brown sugar, fruit syrup, maple syrup, and honey, there can be up to 32 grams of sugar in a tiny serving of oatmeal. Make your own oatmeal the old fashioned way, sweetening it with fresh fruit, giving it warmth with a dash of cinnamon, and topping it with nuts.

4. Pasta Sauce

How much pasta sauce do you use? Pasta sauce can have as much as 12 grams of sugar per half cup.

Companies cut cost by using dehydrated vegetables and low quality vegetable oils as their ingredients and in order to improve the taste, they need to add sugar. Instead of opting for store bought sauces, make your own using a base of canned crushed tomatoes.

5. Salad Dressings

Vinaigrettes and fat-free dressings are often thought of as diet foods, but they are certainly not always a healthy option. Depending on the brand, two tablespoons of vinaigrette dressing can contain 12 grams of added sugars.

Often with fat-free dressings and other fat-free or low-fat products, the company takes out all of the fat, but needs to compensate for the taste somewhere, so they add sugar. Always check the sugar grams and the ingredient list.

6. Barbecue Sauce

Take a moment to think about how much barbecue sauce you typically use when eating ribs, pork chops, or chicken. Now consider that each tablespoon contains about 6 grams of added sugar.

That’s even more sugar than ketchup! You are probably using upwards of 7 or so tablespoons, which would be more than 42 grams of sugar.

7. Yogurt

Yogurt is thought of as a healthy snack, but that's not always the case. Yogurt contains about 6 grams of naturally occurring sugar from lactose. The natural 6 grams of sugar is fine, it is when companies add 20 or more grams of additional sugar that it becomes a problem.

Many leading brands of fruit flavored yogurts have more than 30 grams of sugar. The best option is to buy plain Greek yogurt and add your own toppings and fruit.

How to Spot Hidden Sugars

When checking the ingredient label of a container for added sugars, do not just look for the word “sugar.” Sugar goes by multiple aliases.

Agave nectar, brown sugar, cane crystals, cane juice, cane sugar, corn sweetener, corn syrup, crystalline fructose, dextrose, evaporated cane juice, fructose, fruit juice concentrates, glucose, high fructose corn syrup, honey, invert sugar, lactose, maltose, malt syrup, molasses, raw sugar, sucrose, syrup, and of course sugar, ALL mean sugars have been added to the product.

Read the ingredient list carefully. Start eliminating added sugars from your diet today!