Source: The WISEcode Standard v1.0, Sections 5.4 and 6.1. Brand-facing guidance.
The penalty is banded, not continuous
The sugar penalty steps up one point for every additional ten percentage points of energy from added sugar, beginning at 20 percent and capping at 7 points at 80 percent or more. Because the scale is banded, a reduction only improves your score when it carries the product across a band boundary.
| Energy from added sugar | Penalty |
|---|---|
| Below 20% | 0 |
| 20–29% | 1 |
| 30–39% | 2 |
| 40–49% | 3 |
| 50–59% | 4 |
| 60–69% | 5 |
| 70–79% | 6 |
| 80% or more | 7 |
Working out your target
Energy from added sugar equals calories from added sugars divided by total calories per serving, multiplied by 100. Added sugars supply four calories per gram, so a product with 200 calories and 18 grams of added sugar sits at 36 percent, a 2-point penalty. Dropping to 13 grams brings it to 26 percent and a 1-point penalty. Dropping to 9 grams brings it to 18 percent and removes the penalty entirely.
Two levers, not one
Because the measure is a ratio, you can move it either by reducing added sugar grams or by changing the calorie base of the formulation. Reformulations that cut sugar while also cutting total calories may leave the percentage unchanged.
Watch the trade-off
Replacing sugar with a non-nutritive sweetener removes sugar calories but adds an ingredient that generally carries a Level 3 processing weight, so the total score may not improve. Model both paths before committing.
Sequence your work
If your product also contains a Unique Ingredient of Concern, the 16-point trigger dominates the score. Remove that first; sugar reduction alone will not bring a product out of the Super-Ultra tier.
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