The custard creams described by Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury’s and M&S contain sugars, including products labelled gluten free or milk free; none of those examined products is a sugar-free custard cream. If sugar free is essential for your afternoon tea break, consider an explicitly labelled biscuit in another format, and check its sugars, ingredients, allergens and sweetener warnings before buying.
If the sugar-free claim matters more than the custard-cream format, compare explicitly labelled alternatives and read their nutrition and ingredient information. The custard creams described by Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury’s and M&S are not sugar-free options.
If avoiding gluten, milk or wheat is the priority, look for the specific claim you need. Free-from custard creams from Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury’s and Schär retain the custard-cream format but also declare sugars, so check the two requirements separately.
A reduced-sugar biscuit is a different choice from a sugar-free one. Waitrose & Partners lists McVitie’s Rich Tea The Light One as reduced sugar, with 12.8g sugars per 100g; it is a rich tea biscuit, not a custard cream.
Choose this route: When a sugar-free claim is essential and a different biscuit format will do.
Trade-off: An M&S sugar-free chocolate wafer is not a custard cream; its product information also identifies wheat, soya and a warning about excessive consumption.
Choose this route: When the sandwich-biscuit format matters and sugar free is not required.
Trade-off: Tesco, Sainsbury’s and M&S each declare sugars in their conventional custard creams; a small per-biscuit figure does not replace a per-100g comparison.
Choose this route: When a stated gluten-free, milk-free or wheat-free claim addresses the ingredient you need to avoid.
Trade-off: Free-from does not mean sugar free: the examined Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury’s and Schär products all declare sugars.
| Priority | What to check | Your needs |
|---|---|---|
| Sugar-free claim | Look for an explicit claim, then read “of which sugars” per 100g. Compare the same measure across packs rather than relying on a per-biscuit figure. | If sugar free is essential to my choice, a reduced-sugar or free-from label does not answer that question. |
| Format and allergens | Decide whether a custard cream is necessary. Check the exact gluten, milk or wheat claim and the ingredient and allergen statements on the chosen pack. | I want a custard-cream-style biscuit, but I also need to check any ingredients I avoid separately from its sugar content. |
| Carbohydrate and sweeteners | Read total carbohydrate as well as sugars, and check the sweetener ingredients and any pack warning. Diabetes UK advises checking total carbohydrate on the food label. | Where carbohydrate information or sweetener tolerance matters to me, the sugars line alone is not enough to compare products. |
Free-from claims identify particular ingredients or allergens. Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury’s and Schär list between 19.9g and 25g sugars per 100g for the free-from custard creams described in their product information.
Check the exact free-from claim you need, then read “of which sugars” separately.
Biscuits and stated portions can differ in size, so per-biscuit figures are not a like-for-like product comparison. Sugars also do not show total carbohydrate.
Compare the per-100g figures first, then check the stated portion and total carbohydrate if those details affect your choice.
The M&S Sugar Free Chocolate Wafer Squares information identifies wheat and soya and warns that excessive consumption may produce laxative effects.
Read the ingredients, allergen statement and warnings on the particular biscuit you intend to buy.
Tesco lists both conventional and free-from custard creams.
Sainsbury’s lists conventional custard creams alongside a milk-free and gluten-free version.
Asda lists free-from custard creams for shoppers looking for the familiar biscuit format with specific ingredient exclusions.
Schär offers gluten-free custard creams in five 25g packs, as listed by ASDA Groceries.
M&S has custard creams and, separately, a sugar-free chocolate wafer in a different biscuit format.
McVitie’s Rich Tea The Light One is a reduced-sugar tea biscuit rather than a custard cream.
These are labelled zero-sugar biscuits for an afternoon tea break in formats other than custard creams: one sandwich cookie and one digestive. Check each product’s current pack information for the sugars declaration, ingredients, allergens and sweetener warnings.
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A sandwich-style cookie for a tea break, but not a custard cream. Check the pack’s sugars declaration, allergens and information about its sweeteners before choosing it.
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A digestive biscuit for a tea break rather than a filled custard cream. Check the pack’s nutrition and ingredient information; the supplied product description warns that excessive consumption may produce a laxative effect.
No: “free from” refers to the specified ingredients or allergens, not to sugars. Tesco Groceries, ASDA Groceries and Sainsbury’s declare 19.9g, 25g and 24.9g sugars per 100g respectively for their free-from custard creams; ASDA Groceries lists 23g per 100g for Schär’s gluten-free version.
Look for an explicit sugar-free claim on the chosen product and read its “of which sugars” figure per 100g. Do not treat “reduced sugar” or an allergen-related “free from” claim as the same thing.
If a different format works for you, Ocado lists M&S Sugar Free Chocolate Wafer Squares with 0.5g sugars per 100g. They are wafers rather than custard creams; check the wheat and soya information and the warning that excessive consumption may produce laxative effects.
No. Diabetes UK advises checking total carbohydrate on the food label, not just sugars, and notes that polyols can contain carbohydrate and calories. If carbohydrate intake is part of an individual diabetes plan, discuss adjustments with your healthcare team rather than deciding from a sugar-free claim alone.