Sugar cane beverage: about 50 g of sugar in a serving

Sugar cane drink is a sugary drink, and sugars added on top of a usual diet raised fasting insulin in controlled feeding studies. A meta-analysis of 155 controlled feeding comparisons in 5086 people found a rise of 4.68 pmol/L (95% CI 1.40 to 7.96) when sugars were added this way, on evidence the authors graded as low quality. Sugar cane juice was not studied separately. The drink itself is almost all sugar. USDA figures, calculated from a recipe while street juice varies, give about 74 calories and 20 g of sugars per 3.5 oz (100 g), so a typical 8.7 oz (248 g) serving carries about 184 calories and 50 g of sugars.

As people eat it, per 3.5 oz (100 g)

How much is actually in it

• The USDA-coded sugar cane beverage lists only about 11 mg potassium per 3.5 oz (100 g), about 27 mg per serving. — not applicable (food composition data) Evidence E source
  27.3 mg potassium per 248 g serving

What a real portion looks like

• A sugar cane beverage provides about 74 calories per 3.5 oz (100 g), so a typical 8.7 oz (248 g) serving gives about 184 calories. — not applicable (food composition data) Evidence E source
  183.5 calories per 248 g serving; 22.9 calories per fl oz (31 g)
• Nearly all of its carbohydrate is sugar: about 20 g per 3.5 oz (100 g), so one 8.7 oz (248 g) serving carries about 50 g of sugars. — not applicable (food composition data) Evidence E source
  50.0 g total sugars per 248 g serving

What it does to your health

• Pooled cohorts link each extra daily serving of sugar-sweetened beverage with 25% higher type 2 diabetes risk and each serving of fruit juice with 5% higher risk. — healthy adults in 29 prospective cohorts; SSB 18 cohorts (n=541,288), fruit juice 14 cohorts (n=490,413) (n = 541288) Evidence C source
  RR 1.25 (95% CI 1.17 to 1.35) per SSB serving; RR 1.05 (95% CI >1.00 to 1.11) per fruit juice serving
• A meta-analysis of 155 controlled feeding comparisons (5086 people) found that sugars added on top of the diet raised fasting insulin, and sugar-sweetened beverages and fruit juice showed harmful effects on at least one outcome when added this way. — 155 controlled intervention comparisons, n=5086, people with and without diabetes, at least 7 days (n = 5086) Evidence A source
  Fasting insulin +4.68 pmol/L (1.40 to 7.96) in addition studies; harmful effects from sugars-sweetened beverages and fruit juice in addition studies
• In a 12-week double-blind RCT in Brazilian children aged 2-3 years, a juice sweetened with 25 g evaporated sugarcane juice (rapadura) raised hemoglobin more than the same juice with refined sugar. — preschool children aged 2-3 years, state school in Sobral, Brazil; 6.8 fl oz (200 mL) cashew juice with 25 g rapadura or refined sugar plus 40 mg ascorbic acid, 12 weeks Evidence B source
  Significant increase in hemoglobin with rapadura vs refined sugar (size not given in abstract)

Safety, limits and interactions

• In São Carlos, Brazil, 25% of 24 street sugarcane juice samples exceeded the legal limit for thermo-tolerant coliforms, and 37% of vendors carried these bacteria on their hands. — 24 point-of-sale juice samples and juice handlers at street stands, São Carlos, Brazil (n = 24) Evidence C source
  25% of samples above Brazilian coliform limits; coliforms on 37% of handlers' hands; no Salmonella or parasites found
• Among children under 5 in Colombian day care centers, finding the Blastocystis parasite in sugar cane beverage containers was linked with infection (OR 1.70). — 275 children aged 0-5 years at public day care centers, Calarcá, Colombia (n = 275) Evidence C source
  OR 1.70 (95% CI 1.05 to 2.79) for parasite in sugar cane beverage containers
• FDA says children, older adults, pregnant women and people with weakened immune systems risk serious illness or even death from drinking untreated juice. Packaged untreated juice must carry a warning label, but juice sold by the glass, as at juice bars and roadside stands, does not need one. The page does not name sugar cane juice. — children, older adults, pregnant women and people with weakened immune systems Evidence E source
  Untreated juice can cause serious illness or death in these groups; packaged untreated juice must carry a warning label, juice sold by the glass need not

What people believe that the data does not support

• The EU did not authorize blood-lipid or blood-pressure claims for policosanol from sugarcane wax. — not applicable (regulatory decision) Evidence E source
  Claim not authorized in the EU

The bottom line

Pooled cohorts of healthy adults link each extra daily serving of a sugar-sweetened drink with a 25 percent higher risk of type 2 diabetes, risk ratio 1.25 (95% CI 1.17 to 1.35). Each daily serving of fruit juice went with a 5 percent higher risk, with an interval that barely clears 1.00. These are associations from cohort studies, and none of them looked at cane juice on its own. The USDA entry lists little potassium, 11 mg per 3.5 oz (100 g), about 27 mg per serving. The EU has refused blood lipid and blood pressure claims for policosanol, a compound taken from the wax of the cane rather than from the juice. In Brazilian children aged 2 to 3, a 12-week double-blind trial found that cashew juice sweetened with 0.88 oz (25 g) of rapadura, which is evaporated cane juice, raised hemoglobin more than the same juice with refined sugar. Both drinks also carried 40 mg of vitamin C, and the abstract gives neither the number of children nor the size of the rise. The trial compared two sweeteners at the same 25 g, not sugar against none, so it does not show that a sugary drink is good for young children. Fresh juice from a street stall is not heated, and the studies found it contaminated. In São Carlos, Brazil, 25 percent of 24 street samples exceeded the legal limit for thermo-tolerant coliforms, and 37 percent of vendors carried them on their hands, in a small survey of one city that found no Salmonella. Among 275 children under 5 in Colombian day care centers, finding the Blastocystis parasite in the containers used for the drink was linked with infection, odds ratio 1.70 (95% CI 1.05 to 2.79). That is an association from one survey, and it was found in the youngest children. FDA says children, older adults, pregnant women and people with weakened immune systems risk serious illness or even death from drinking untreated juice. In the US, packaged untreated juice must carry a warning that it has not been pasteurized and may contain harmful bacteria, but juice sold by the glass, as at juice bars and roadside stands, does not need one. That FDA page does not name sugar cane juice, and the stall juice described above is unheated and sold by the glass.

Sources

1. scbv-r2-03 · food composition dataset
   Sugar cane beverage | Potassium, K | 11 mg per 100 g
   USDA FNDDS 2021-2023, food code 92612010, FDC 2710606 · checked 2026-09-30
2. scbv-r2-01 · food composition dataset
   Sugar cane beverage | Energy | 74 kcal per 100 g | Quantity not specified = 248 g
   USDA FNDDS 2021-2023, food code 92612010, FDC 2710606 · checked 2026-09-30
3. scbv-r2-02 · food composition dataset
   Sugar cane beverage | Total Sugars | 20.17 g per 100 g; Carbohydrate, by difference | 20.17 g per 100 g
   USDA FNDDS 2021-2023, food code 92612010, FDC 2710606 · checked 2026-09-30
4. scbv-r2-04 · meta-analysis of cohort studies
   Each additional serving of SSB and fruit juice was associated with a higher risk of T2D (risk ratio [RR]: 1.25; 95% CI: 1.17, 1.35 and RR: 1.05; 95% CI: >1.00, 1.11, respectively; moderate certainty).
   Adv Nutr, 2025 · checked 2026-09-30
5. scbv-r2-05 · meta-analysis of controlled trials
   RESULTS: 155 study comparisons (n=5086) were included. ... a harmful effect was seen on fasting insulin in addition studies (4.68 pmol/L (1.40 to 7.96)) and ad libitum studies (7.24 pmol/L (0.47 to 14.00)). There was interaction by food source, with specific food sources showing beneficial effects (fruit and fruit juice) or harmful effects (sweetened milk and mixed sources) in substitution studies and harmful effects (sugars-sweetened beverages and fruit juice) in addition studies on at least one outcome.
   BMJ, 2018 · checked 2026-09-30
6. scbv-r2-06 · randomized controlled trial
   Research consisted of a 12-week randomized, controlled double-blind trial conducted in 2007 at a state-run school in Sobral, Brazil, among children aged 2-3 years. ... A significant statistical increase in hemoglobin was observed in the group consuming the rapadura-fortified beverage.
   Rev Panam Salud Publica, 2009 · checked 2026-09-30
7. scbv-r2-07 · cross-sectional study
   Fresh sugarcane juice is sold by street vendors without any heat treatment in São Carlos, São Paulo, Brazil. ... 25% of samples showed poor sanitary conditions, with thermo-tolerant coliform levels higher than allowed by Brazilian standards. Salmonella spp. and parasites were absent in all samples. Thermo-tolerant coliforms were detected on the hands of 37% of juice handlers, and heterotrophic bacterial counts reached 2.0 x 10(3) cfu/per hand.
   Cad Saude Publica, 2006 · checked 2026-09-30
8. scbv-r2-08 · cross-sectional study
   A statistically significant association was found between the Blastocystis sp . positive stool tests and the presence of the parasite in containers of sugar cane beverage (OR=1.70; 95% CI: 1.05-2.79), wood or ground floors (OR=3.43; 95% CI: 1.12-10.48) and in foods other than bottled milk (OR=3.23; 95% CI: 1.41-4.41).
   Biomedica, 2014 · checked 2026-09-30
9. sf-juice-r6-3 · agency advice
   While most people’s immune systems can usually fight off the effects of foodborne illness, children, older adults, pregnant women, and people with weakened immune systems (such as transplant patients and individuals with HIV/AIDS, cancer, or diabetes) risk serious illnesses or even death from drinking untreated juices. ... These untreated products should be kept under refrigeration and are required to carry the following warning on the label: WARNING: This product has not been pasteurized and therefore may contain harmful bacteria that can cause serious illness in children, the elderly, and persons with weakened immune systems. However, FDA does not require warning labels for juice or cider that is sold by the glass – for example, at apple orchards, farmers’ markets, roadside stands, juice bars, and some restaurants.
   U.S. FDA, What You Need to Know About Juice Safety, content current as of 03/05/2024 · checked 2026-10-08
10. scbv-r2-09 · EU claims register
    POL-HC-7767 Policosanol [from sugarcane wax (Saccarum officinarum)] Support for Healthy Blood Lipid Levels/ Natural Blood Lipid Support/ Policosanol supports healthy lipid metabolism/ Policosanol may promote LDL binding, uptake, and degradation/ Policosanol may help maintain healthy blood pressure levels already within normal range Non-authorised
    EU Register on nutrition and health claims, claim POL-HC-7767, snapshot 2026-09-21 · checked 2026-09-30