How Much Sugar is in Carnation Breakfast Essentials?

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How much sugar is in Carnation Breakfast Essentials? Carnation Breakfast Essentials range. You know – the Carnation nutritional drinks that you grab when running out the door late in the morning. Breakfast on the go if you will. But exactly how much sugar is in Carnation Breakfast Essentials? That is the question I am going to be answering in this post.  I will also be answering some frequently asked questions when it comes to Carnation Breakfast Essentials drinks.

In order to answer this question, I have compiled the sugar content data for all of Carnation’s different flavors. I then put together a list of Carnation’s products in descending order of sugar content. So, make sure to read to the end to find out about the lowest-sugar Carnation Breakfast Essentials product!

Let’s dig in – how much sugar is in Carnation Breakfast Essentials?

How Much Sugar is in Carnation Breakfast Essentials?

As a general rule the total sugar content of Carnation Breakfast Essentials products ranges from 11g-30g per serving. There is, however, a Carnation nutritional drink that only contains 3g of total sugar per serving.

Before we dig in, if you are interested in the sugar content of another nutritional drink brand – Ensure, then make sure to read the post I wrote on the sugar content of Ensure’s drinks here – Which Ensure Has the Least Amount of Sugar?

Ranking the Sugar Content of Carnation Breakfast Essentials

In this section, I will go through and rank the sugar content of 10 different Carnation Breakfast Essentials drinks.

1. High Protein Nutritional Powder Drink in Vanilla – 30g of Sugar

First up is Carnations Breakfast Essentials High Protein Vanilla Nutritional Powder Drink. There are 30g of total sugar in a serving of this high-protein nutritional drink as prepared (i.e., the recommended serving of powder blended with a cup of skim milk).

Now at first glance, this may seem very high – but it is important to point out that actually 23g of these sugars are naturally occurring – much of this sugar comes from the skim milk that you add to the powder to make the drink and a fair bit of the sugar also comes from the milk in the powder.

You see milk contains lactose which is a naturally occurring sugar. So, there is only 7g of added sugar in a serving of Carnation’s high-protein vanilla nutritional drink.

2. High Protein Nutritional Powder Drink in Chocolate – 28g of Sugar

The chocolate version of Carnation’s high protein nutritional powder drink is slightly lower in sugar at 28g of total sugar for a prepared serving. 6g of these sugars are added.

3. Original Nutritional Powder Drink Mix in Strawberry – 28g of Sugar

The regular (i.e., not high protein) version of Carnation’s nutritional powder drink in the strawberry flavor also contains 28g of total sugar per serving as prepared. 8g of these sugars are added.

4. Original Nutritional Powder Drink Mix in Vanilla and Chocolate – 27g of Sugar

The chocolate and vanilla versions of Carnation’s nutritional powder drink mix contain a tiny bit less total sugar at 27g per serving and a bit more added sugar at 9g.

The sweetener used in Carnation’s powdered drink mixes is simply sugar.

5. Light Start Nutritional Powder Drink – 19g of Sugar

If you are looking for a lower-sugar Carnation Breakfast Essentials drink powder, then its Light Start drink powder is the best option for you. The Light Start powder is sweetened with sugar, acesulfame potassium, and sucralose.

There are 19g of total sugar per serving of Light Start nutritional powder drink as prepared. But almost all this sugar comes from the lactose in the milk you add plus the milk in the powder. There is actually just <1g of added sugar per serving.

6. Fruit Loops/Cinnabon/Frosted Flakes/Rice Krispies Treats/Golden Grahams Flavored Nutritional Drink – 15g of Sugar

Next up, are the Breakfast Essentials Flavored Nutritional Drinks. There are 15g of total sugar per bottle of Fruit Loops/Cinnabon/Frosted Flakes/Rice Krispies Treats/Golden Grahams Flavored Nutritional Drinks.

All 15g of these sugars are added. The added sugars are glucose syrup and sugar.

7. Chocolate Breakfast Pudding – 14g of Sugar

I mean the words breakfast and pudding aren’t normally two words said together. Enter Breakfast Essentials Chocolate Breakfast Pudding. This breakfast pudding is sweetened with sugar, corn syrup solids, and stevia and there are 14g of sugar per serving.

8. High Protein Nutritional Drink in Vanilla and Chocolate – 12g of Sugar

I talked about Carnation’s high protein nutritional drink powder above which contains 28g-30g of total sugar per serving as prepared as instructed. Well, if you want a lower sugar high protein breakfast option the ready-made bottled version of the high protein nutritional drink may be the best option for you.

The high-protein nutritional drink is sweetened with glucose syrup, sugar, and stevia. Both the chocolate and vanilla versions of this drink contain 12g of sugar per serving – all 12g are added.

9. Original Nutritional Drink in Strawberry, Chocolate, Vanilla Mixed Berry, and Cookies & Creme – 11g of Sugar

The pre-made original nutritional drink (i.e., not the high protein variety) contains a tad less sugar at 11g of sugar per bottle. This is the same across all five flavors. All 11g are added sugars and the sweeteners used are glucose syrup, sugar, and stevia.

10. Light Start Chocolate Nutritional Drink – 3g of Sugar

Okay, so I have saved the best for last. Whilst Carnation does not have a completely sugar-free Breakfast Essentials range, they do have a lower sugar option. That is their Light Start chocolate nutritional drink.

This drink is sweetened with glucose syrup and sucralose.

There are just 3g of sugar per serving (and all 3g of sugar are added sugars). Carnation’s Light Start chocolate nutritional drink can only be bought in the rich chocolate variety.

You can find it on Amazon here.

Summary Table – Carnation Breakfast Essentials

Below is a summary table for the Carnation Breakfast Essentials drinks I mentioned above. For each entry, I include the sweetener used and the total sugar content per serving.

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Carnation Breakfast Essentials Products	Sweetener Used	Total Sugar Content Per Serving (prepared as instructed)
High Protein Nutritional Powder Drink In Vanilla	Sugar	30g
High Protein Nutritional Powder Drink In Chocolate	Sugar	28g
Original Nutritional Powder Drink Mix in Strawberry	Sugar	28g
Original Nutritional Powder Drink Mix in Vanilla and Chocolate	Sugar	27g
Light Start Nutritional Powder Drink	Sugar, acesulfame potassium and sucralose	19g
Fruit Loops/Cinnabon/Frosted Flakes/Rice Krispies Treats/Golden Grahams Flavored Nutritional Drink –	Glucose syrup and sugar	15g
Chocolate Breakfast Pudding	Sugar, corn syrup solids and stevia	14g
High Protein Nutritional Drink In Vanilla And Chocolate	Glucose syrup, sugar and stevia	12g
Original Nutritional Drink In Strawberry, Chocolate, Vanilla Mixed Berry And Cookies & Crème	Glucose syrup, sugar and stevia	11g
Light Start Chocolate Nutritional Drink	Glucose syrup and sucralose	3g

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Sugar In Carnation Essential Breakfast Range F&Q

Is Carnation Instant Breakfast High in Sugar?

There are 3g-30g of sugar per serving of Carnation’s Instant Breakfast products, depending on the product.

Does Carnation Instant Breakfast Have a Sugar-Free Version?

Carnation Instant Breakfast does not have a sugar-free version, but they do make a “Light Start” version of their chocolate breakfast drink. This drink is sweetened with glucose syrup and sucralose and there are 3g of total sugar per serving.

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How Much Sugar is in Carnation Breakfast Essentials? – The Final Bite

How much sugar is in Carnation Breakfast Essentials? What have we learned from the above? Well, firstly there aren’t any completely sugar-free Carnation Breakfast Essentials drinks. The lowest sugar version you are going to find is its “Light Start” drink which contains 3g of sugar. So, if you are looking for a breakfast drink to grab on the go but are watching your sugar intake make sure to always double-check the sugar content.

And Remember…