How many sugar cubes are in a can of soda?

A standard soda can of regular cola contains about ten sugar cubes’ worth of sugar. The New York State Department of Health reports (opens in a new tab) about 39 g of sugar in a typical can, while the Alabama Department of Public Health uses (opens in a new tab) 4 g as a typical cube weight.

Start with the sugar on the label

The familiar U.S. can holds 12 fluid ounces, or about 355 mL, and stands 12 cm (4.7 in) tall. The sugar estimate is for regular cola; another drink in a can may have a different amount.

Nutrition labels may give sugar per serving, per container, or both. Match the number to the amount you plan to drink. If the label gives only a per-serving amount, multiply it by the servings you will drink. If it gives a whole-container total, use that figure instead of treating the per-serving amount as the can’s full total.

On a U.S. Nutrition Facts label, total sugars includes sugars naturally present in ingredients as well as added sugars. Added sugars counts only the sugars added during production. Use total sugars to estimate all the sugar in the drink; the added-sugars line answers a narrower question.

Turn the grams into cubes

Divide the label’s sugar grams by the grams in a typical cube. For the cola example, that means about 39 g divided by about 4 g. Because both amounts are approximate, the answer is about ten cubes.

The label measures sugar by mass, while a cube gives that mass a familiar shape. The sugar in cola is dissolved in the liquid, so the cubes in the estimate are a way to picture the amount, not pieces sitting inside the can. Cube weights vary, so a count based on a typical cube will not match every brand or cube exactly.

Use the estimate for another drink

The same conversion works for a bottle of sweetened tea, a fruit drink, or another soda: start with that drink’s own sugar total, then divide by the typical cube weight. Don’t carry the cola’s sugar amount over to another brand or recipe. A different drink can have a different label even when the package looks similar.

For diet or zero-sugar drinks, check the sugar line on that drink’s label. Sweetness alone does not tell you how much sugar it contains, since drinks can use different sweeteners. The Estimation tips page covers the same kind of label-to-quantity reasoning used to make the cube estimate.

Picture the stack beside the can

A large chicken egg stands 6 cm (2.4 in) tall, half the height of the 12 cm can. It gives the can a familiar scale before you picture sugar beside it.

A typical cube is roughly 1.1 to 1.2 cm tall (opens in a new tab). Stack about ten cubes and the column would reach around 11 to 12 cm. That stack would reach right up to the opening of the 12 cm can.