The A-Creme

With its milk chocolate shell encasing white and orange fondant, the Cadbury Creme Egg is an undeniably sweet treat. But just how sweet might come as a surprise.

Rebecca Bilham, a business owner in North Wales, recently posted a photo to Facebook that depicts the amount of sugar found in the candy. A Creme Egg is pictured alongside a pile of granulated white sugar, and a British two-pence coin.

“Warning, may upset Creme Egg lovers,” Bilham captioned the photo, which was posted to her business page, The Little Red Hut Home & Gifts. The post went viral with 16,000 comments and counting – along with more than its fair share of “crying face” emoji.

In Canada, one Cadbury Creme Egg contains 21 grams of sugar and 25 grams of total carbohydrates (MyFitnessPal). That’s roughly 5.25 teaspoons of sugar (four grams equals one teaspoon, according to Michigan State University). A 2015 World Health Organization (WHO) guideline advocates no more than about six teaspoons (25 grams) of added sugars per day. This means a single egg represents nearly the entirety of the recommended daily intake of sugar. But judging by many of the reactions on Facebook, the sugar-loaded reality didn’t seem to change perceptions of the popular Easter treat.

“What a surprise that a fondant filled chocolate egg is filled with sugar and not cabbage or quinoa!! I feel so misled,” user Claire Curtis sarcastically remarked.

“Meh I don’t even care, I’m still gonna eat a multipack in one sitting on more than one occasion. Creme eggs are too good to give a sh-t,” Stacey McMahon commented.