It’s obvious that the sweet tastes in candy, soda, and cake come from sugar, but do you know the other foods in which sugar is hiding?

It’s estimated that 50 percent of the sugar consumed by Americans is hidden in prepackaged foods or in foodstuffs you’d never suspect.

Sugar hides under some 50 different names. Watch for these ingredients listed on your food labels: lactose, brown rice syrup, molasses, dextrose, cane sugar, corn sweetener, corn sweetener solids, fructose, glucose, maltose, rice syrup, cane juice crystals, evaporated cane juice, raw sugar, organic raw sugar, maltodextrin — and the list goes on.

You need to be especially vigilant about high fructose corn syrup (HFCS). This common sweetener in sodas and fruit-flavored drinks is manufactured in a way that turns its glucose into fructose, a type of sugar that is actually sweeter.

The fructose is metabolized directly by the liver in an unhealthy process called lipogenesis. That’s why high fructose corn syrup is being linked to the growing epidemic of fatty liver disease in the United States.

Here’s a short list of packaged and processed foods to watch out for:

• Barbecue sauce and similar sauces

• Bacon

• Bread

• Canned meats

• Canned salmon

• Cereals and oatmeal

• Crackers

• Cured meats

• Dried cranberries

• Gravy

• Flavored coffees and creamers

• Fruit juice

• Ketchup

• Mustard

• Pancake mix

• Pretzels

• Salad dressing

• Soups

• Soy sauce

• Vitamins that taste like candy

• Wine