National Real Sugar Day: Celebrating Real Sugar's Role in Real Food

WASHINGTON, Oct. 1, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- The Sugar Association will celebrate National Real Sugar Day on October 15 by recognizing real sugar's role as a real, recognizable ingredient in real food. This year's celebration also highlights that real sugar is rooted in nature and is at the heart of real recipes and scratch cooking.

Established by the Sugar Association and its members in 2022, National Real Sugar Day shines a spotlight each year on the plants and people behind the real sugar found on supermarket shelves and in home pantries nationwide. This year's celebration comes at a time of growing interest in real food and simple ingredients.

Sugar Association polling conducted in March 2026 found that 79% of Americans agree that real sugar can be in real food, and 71% believe that real sugar is real food. Further, it found that 80% of Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) supporters agree that real sugar can be in real food, and 75% agree that real sugar is real food. The polling also found that 90% of Americans use real sugar in their cooking and baking, as do 88% of MAHA supporters.

Beyond being the gold standard of sweetness, real sugar helps preserve freshness, create color and texture, and balance sour and acidic flavors in food, along with many other roles. This ability to perform so many functions makes real sugar unique and irreplaceable as a single ingredient in real food.

Sugar Association President and CEO Courtney Gaine, Ph.D., RD, commented:

"Real sugar keeps our everyday lives and special occasions a little sweeter, and it serves as an essential ingredient in real food from family kitchens to thousands of bakeries, restaurants and businesses. Today, we celebrate real sugar and the 11,000 sugar growers and dedication of countless others who bring it to us. Our hope for this year's National Real Sugar Day is for everyone to learn one new fact about real sugar and its role in foods."

All are encouraged to join the #NationalRealSugarDay celebration by:

• Baking or cooking real food from scratch with #RealSugar to share with family, friends, or online!
• Sharing recipes or photos online of your favorite foods made with #RealSugar.
• Take our virtual farm to table tour and experience the process of how #RealSugar gets from plant to product.
• Share National Real Sugar Day social graphics on your social media channels.

Tag @moretosugar and use #NationalRealSugarDay and #RealSugarRealFood.

More information about National Real Sugar Day is available here, including a Celebration Toolkit with social media graphics, educational resources, and more.

The Sugar Association, founded in 1943, is the scientific voice of the U.S. sugar industry. The association is committed to making a difference by continuously supporting scientific research and sharing its knowledge that there's more to real sugar by increasing consumer understanding of and confidence in the role that it plays in a nutritious, balanced, and enjoyable diet. The Sugar Association represents nearly 11,000 beet and cane sugar growers, as well as processors and refiners of sugar. The U.S. sugar industry generates 151,000 jobs in more than two dozen states and contributes $23.3 billion to the economy annually. For more information, visit sugar.org, follow us on X and Instagram, and connect with us on Facebook.

SOURCE Sugar Association