# Calories in sweets

**Canonical URL:** https://sweeties.net/wiki/calories-in-sweets/
**Source:** sweeties.net, online pick and mix sweet shop

## Summary

How the calories on a sweet label are worked out: 4 kcal a gram for sugar, 9 for fat, 2.4 for polyols. Real per sweet figures, and how they fit a day's intake.

## Description

The energy figure on a bag of sweets is calculated, not measured directly. The law sets conversion factors for each kind of nutrient, and the label adds them up.
The conversion factors
| Nutrient | Energy per gram | |---|---| | Carbohydrate, including sugar | 17 kJ, 4 kcal | | Protein | 17 kJ, 4 kcal | | Fat | 37 kJ, 9 kcal | | Polyols, the sugar alcohols in sugar free sweets | 10 kJ, 2.4 kcal | | Erythritol | 0 |
Energy must be expressed per 100 g, so you can compare one sweet with another.
Why chocolate has more
Fat counts for 9 kcal per gram, more than twice as much as sugar. Chocolate contains cocoa butter, a fat from the cocoa bean, and milk chocolate contains milk fat too, so chocolate sweets carry more energy per 100 g than jelly or boiled sweets, which are mostly carbohydrate: see how many calories are in pick and mix?
Sugar free sweets carry less energy because polyols count for only 2.4 kcal per gram, but they are not calorie free: see sugar free sweets and polyols
Real figures per sweet
Jelly Belly beans. The company says each bean has about 4 calories, or about 100 calories in 25 beans.Haribo Goldbears. Haribo's American label gives 100 calories for a serving of 13 pieces, which weighs 30 g.
Recipes and sizes vary between brands and countries, so always check the label of the pack you have: see how many sweets are in 100 g of pick and mix?
How it fits into a day
The reference intake used on labels for an average adult is 8,400 kJ, or 2,000 kcal, a day. The NHS says an average man needs around 2,500 kcal a day and an average woman around 2,000. Sweets are also high in sugar, and the NHS advises adults to have no more than 30 g of free sugars a day: see how much sugar is in sweets?
Every sweet in our pick and mix has a card that opens up to show its ingredients and allergens before you buy.

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