Formula
Why there's sugar in KURO
7.1g a can, and it's deliberate. What a small amount of carbohydrate does for absorption and drinkability, and why chasing a zero on the label would have made a worse drink.
Zero sugar is the easiest claim in the drinks aisle. Put it on the front, and nobody asks a second question. We didn't do it, and we get asked about that more than anything else on the can.
There's 7.1g of sugar in a 330ml can of KURO. It's on the back, in the panel, in the same order the regulations require. Here's why it's there.
What the sugar is doing
Two things, and neither of them is flavour for its own sake.
It helps the minerals go down
An electrolyte drink only works if you finish it. A mineral load in plain water tastes like the sea, and people sip it once and leave the rest. A small amount of carbohydrate makes 500mg of sodium palatable enough to drink mid-session, which is the whole point of the product.
It keeps the drink drinkable when you're working
Sports drinks are typically built at 4 to 8g of carbohydrate per 100ml.1 KURO sits at 2.3g per 100ml. That's under half the concentration of a standard sports drink, which keeps it light rather than syrupy when you're hot and breathing hard.
How 7.1g actually compares
Numbers in isolation are useless. Here's the context, per 100ml, so the serve size can't flatter anyone:
- KURO: 2.2g of sugar per 100ml (7.1g in a 330ml can).
- Sports drink: typically 4 to 8g of carbohydrate per 100ml.1
- Regular soft drink: about 10.6g per 100ml, roughly 40g in a 375ml can.2
So a can of KURO carries somewhere near a third of the sugar of a soft drink, at under half the concentration of a typical sports drink. It also comes in at 38 calories a can.
Why not just make it zero
We could have. It would have meant sweeteners, and a drink that tastes like it's trying to convince you it's sweet. Every sweetener leaves something behind, and the most common complaint about the category is exactly that: the aftertaste that hangs around after you finish.
The trade was simple. 7.1g of sugar, or an ingredient list with something in it doing an impression of sugar. We took the 7.1g and put it on the label.
This isn't the drink for someone counting every gram of carbohydrate. It's the drink for someone who wants the mineral dose to actually land, and who'd rather read a short ingredient list than a clever one.
What's actually in it
Water, sucrose, natural flavours, sea salt, potassium citrate, calcium lactate, magnesium citrate, citric acid, tartaric acid. That's the lot. No caffeine, no carbonation, no preservatives, and it's gluten free.
Per 330ml can: 500mg sodium, 300mg potassium, 100mg magnesium, 100mg calcium, 7.6g carbohydrate of which 7.1g is sugar, 38 calories. The full panel is on the science page if you want to read it properly.
The short version
- 7.1g of sugar a can, 2.2g per 100ml, 38 calories.
- The carbohydrate helps a 500mg sodium dose stay drinkable mid-session.
- Under half the carbohydrate concentration of a typical sports drink.
- About a third of the sugar in a can of soft drink.
- No sweeteners, so no aftertaste to explain away.
We'd rather defend 7.1g than hide behind a zero.
Related: how to read an electrolyte label.
References
- Healthy Food Guide (Australia). Guide to sports drinks, updated July 2025. healthyfood.com
- Coca-Cola Classic Australian nutrition information panel, via CalorieKing Australia. calorieking.com.au
