How many grams of sugar are in a standard 12-ounce can of Coca-Cola?

How to get close to this number

Reason from the calories backwards. If you know a can carries around 140 calories and that essentially all of them come from sugar at four calories per gram, division gives you the mass directly. The companion question on this site supplies the calorie figure, and chaining two related facts is more reliable than recalling either alone.

The teaspoon conversion in the explanation is what makes the figure land. Thirty-nine grams is an abstraction; nine or ten teaspoons is a physical quantity you can picture being spooned into a glass, and almost nobody would do that voluntarily. Converting mass into a household measure is the single most effective move in communicating nutrition.

The guideline comparison is the consequence: one can exceeds an adult's entire recommended daily added sugar. Note that portion size varies by country — cans and bottles come in different standard volumes — so the same drink delivers different amounts in different markets, which is why the figure specifies a twelve-ounce can.