How Much Sugar Is in Licorice? Red, Black and Sugar-Free

Licorice candy is high in sugar, and how much depends on the color and the brand. Red licorice runs from about 13 to 20 grams of sugar in a typical three to five piece serving, black licorice runs from about 12 to 18 grams in a similar serving, and sugar-free licorice has zero grams because it replaces sugar with xylitol, erythritol, maltitol or stevia. Serving sizes swing from 30 to 45 grams depending on the brand, so two people eating one serving of licorice can take in very different amounts of sugar. Twizzlers, Red Vines and store-brand twists each sit at a different point on that range, and the numbers below show exactly where.

How Much Sugar in Licorice by Type

The table below lines up red licorice, black licorice and sugar-free licorice side by side using the sizes printed on each package.

Licorice Type	Serving Size	Sugar (grams)	Calories	Sweetener Type
Red Vines Original Red	4 twists (32g)	15	120	Sugar and corn syrup
Twizzlers Red Strawberry	3 pieces (35g)	13	110	Sugar and corn syrup
Generic Red Licorice	4 to 5 pieces (40g)	18 to 20	140	Sugar and corn syrup
Black Licorice Standard	30g	12	110	Sugar and corn syrup
Black Licorice Standard	40g	14 to 16	140	Sugar and corn syrup
Twizzlers Black	4 pieces (45g)	18	About 155	Sugar and corn syrup
Sugar-Free Black (generic)	40g	0	100	Maltitol or stevia
Dr. John’s Sugar-Free Black	4 pieces	0	45	Xylitol and erythritol

Calories in sugar-free versions are not zero. Reading the serving size line first matters more than reading the sugar line first, because a package that looks lower in sugar may simply define a smaller serving than the package next to it on the shelf.

Two bags can share a brand name and still carry different gram counts per piece, so the safest habit is weighing or counting pieces rather than trusting the front-of-package claim alone.

How Much Sugar Is in Red Licorice

Twizzlers Red Strawberry Licorice lists 13 grams of sugar and 110 calories in a three-piece, 35-gram serving.

Red Vines Original Red Licorice Twists list 15 grams of sugar and 120 calories in a four-twist, 32-gram serving, with zero grams of fat and no artificial colors or flavors, according to Food Facts Hub’s nutrition breakdown of the product.

Generic red licorice differs from Twizzlers because it refers to a larger, four to five piece, 40-gram serving, with 18 to 20 grams of sugar and 140 calories, per SnapCalorie’s nutrition data, where carbohydrates provide 97.3 percent of calories.

Does Red Licorice Contain Real Licorice Root

Most red licorice contains no licorice root at all, despite the name. Wheat flour, corn syrup, sugar, artificial flavoring and color make up the typical recipe, with fruit flavoring standing in for the anise taste that black licorice gets from licorice extract.

Anyone expecting the taste of true licorice from a red twist will be disappointed, since the flavor is closer to cherry or strawberry candy. The wheat flour base also means red licorice is not a gluten-free candy, a detail worth checking on the package for anyone avoiding gluten for medical reasons rather than preference.

How Much Sugar Is in Black Licorice

Black licorice carries 12 to 18 grams of sugar per serving, slightly below red licorice at the low end and roughly level with it at the high end. WebMD lists 12 grams of sugar and 110 calories in a standard 30-gram serving, with carbohydrates accounting for 94 percent of calories.

SnapCalorie’s black licorice entry lists a larger 40-gram serving at 140 calories and 33 total grams of carbohydrates, as of September 2026, which works out to roughly 14 to 16 grams of sugar at that size. Twizzlers Black Licorice lists 18 grams of sugar in a four-piece, 45-gram serving.

Why the Black Licorice Sugar Numbers Do Not Match

WebMD’s 12-gram figure and SnapCalorie’s 40-gram figure look like a disagreement, but they describe different serving sizes rather than different candy. Scaled to the same weight, both land at roughly 33 to 40 percent sugar by weight, and SnapCalorie’s larger serving size explains why its total looks bigger. WebMD carries more authority for the health context around black licorice as a medically reviewed source, while SnapCalorie is more useful for comparing raw nutrition numbers at different serving sizes.

Which Licorice Has the Least Sugar by Weight

Twizzlers Red Strawberry Licorice has the lowest sugar concentration among the full-sugar options compared here, once the numbers are adjusted for serving weight rather than grams alone. Its 13 grams of sugar in a 35-gram serving works out to about 37 percent sugar by weight.

The black licorice options both land at 40 percent sugar by weight. Generic red licorice twists run highest of all at 45 to 50 percent once sugar is weighed against serving weight.

That ranking flips the simple grams-per-serving comparison people usually make. Looking only at the grams column, black licorice looks lighter than red licorice across the board, but weighing sugar against candy shows Twizzlers Red actually beats the standard black licorice serving on concentration, even though its raw gram count sits closer to the middle of the list. Shoppers who care about sugar density rather than piece count should check the percentage, not just the headline number on the front label.

How Much Sugar Is in Sugar-Free Licorice

This type of candy has zero grams of sugar per serving, and it gets its sweetness from sugar alcohols or stevia instead of table sugar. SnapCalorie’s sugar-free black licorice entry lists zero grams of sugar and 100 calories in a 40-gram serving.

Dr. John’s Sugar-Free Black Licorice has 45 calories in a four-piece serving, sweetened with erythritol and xylitol, both plant-based sweeteners that do not promote tooth decay. The brand colors its candy with fruit and vegetable juice instead of artificial dyes, and the product is free of gluten, dairy and soy.

Licorice.com sells sugar-free Finnish licorice in red apple, red, black and mango flavors, priced at $16 each as of September 2026, with its sugar-free bundle carrying 937 customer reviews.

Which Sweeteners Replace the Sugar

Maltitol, stevia, xylitol and erythritol are the sweeteners most often used in these candies. None of them add meaningful sugar, but they are not free of drawbacks. These candies stay calorie-dense and carbohydrate-heavy despite the zero grams of sugar on the label, and sugar alcohols can cause digestive upset in people who eat more than a piece or two.

Xylitol and erythritol belong to the sugar alcohol family, which the body absorbs more slowly than table sugar, and that slower absorption is part of why sugar alcohols carry the digestive warning printed on many sugar-free candy bags.

A doctor’s advice is worth getting before making sugar-free candy a daily habit if your stomach is sensitive to sugar alcohols or if you manage a condition like diabetes where portion tracking matters.

If I were choosing licorice mainly to cut sugar, I would choose a sugar-free version over simply eating fewer pieces of regular licorice. It removes the 12 to 20 grams of sugar that a usual serving of red or black licorice can contain. I would still keep the portion modest, since sugar-free options are not calorie-free and their sweeteners can upset some people’s digestion. For someone who enjoys licorice often, that tradeoff seems more practical than treating a small serving of regular candy as low sugar.

How Much Sugar You Eat Depends on Portion Size

Portion size changes the sugar total more than the type of licorice does, because packages rarely stop at one serving. Package servings for licorice can be 28 grams, one ounce, and eating past that first serving adds up fast.

A full one-cup portion of red licorice, about 235 grams, the kind a movie theater box might hold, contains around 105.9 grams of sugar, while five to seven pieces amount to roughly one and a half servings.

• One Red Vines serving: see above
• Five 32-gram servings (20 twists, close to a snack-size bag): about 75 grams of sugar
• Five servings of black licorice, 150 grams total

That one-cup number is more than seven 32-gram Red Vines servings eaten back to back, and the 150-gram black licorice example shows the same pattern from the other end of the sugar range. Neither total looks alarming piece by piece, which is exactly how a bag disappears faster than the label suggests.

Checking the weight printed on the package, not just the piece count, is the only reliable way to know how many servings a handful actually adds up to, since a generous handful of thin twists can easily equal two or three official servings.

Is Eating Black Licorice Sugar Often Safe

Eating black licorice often is not just a sugar question, because black licorice also contains glycyrrhizin, a compound that can raise blood pressure and lower potassium levels when eaten in excess. The American Heart Association and WebMD both note that candy, including licorice, is never a health food regardless of color.

Frequent servings of full-sugar licorice add up in weight gain and dental problems the same way any other candy does, on top of the glycyrrhizin risk specific to black licorice. Sugar-free black licorice avoids the sugar side of that equation but keeps the glycyrrhizin and adds its own digestive caveat.

Red licorice sidesteps the glycyrrhizin concern entirely, since it is not made from real licorice extract, which leaves plain sugar and calories as the only things to watch there. Anyone with high blood pressure, a heart condition, or a medication affected by potassium levels should check with a doctor before eating black licorice regularly, sugar-free or not, and the same advice holds for anyone managing sugar intake for a diagnosed medical condition rather than general preference.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does Red Licorice Have More Sugar than Black Licorice?

Not by much. Red licorice generally runs 13 to 20 grams of sugar per serving and black licorice runs 12 to 18 grams, so the two overlap more than they differ. The bigger swing comes from brand and serving size rather than color, as sugar amounts vary across the cited red and black licorice servings.

Does Red Licorice Actually Contain Licorice Root?

Usually not. Most red licorice is made from wheat flour, corn syrup, sugar and fruit flavoring rather than licorice root extract, so the anise taste people associate with black licorice is absent. Black licorice is the type that typically carries real licorice extract and its glycyrrhizin compound.

Is the Sugar-Free Version Healthier than Regular Licorice?

It cuts the sugar to zero, but that does not make it automatically the healthier choice. This candy stays calorie-dense and carbohydrate-heavy, and the sugar alcohols used to sweeten it can cause digestive upset in some people. Treat it as a reasonable swap for someone watching sugar intake, not a free pass to eat more candy.

Why Do Sugar Counts for the Same Type of Licorice Differ so Much?

Serving size is the main reason. A 30-gram serving and a 40-gram serving of the same black licorice will report different sugar totals even if the candy itself is identical, simply because one serving weighs more. Brand formulas also differ, which is why generic red licorice runs higher in sugar than Twizzlers or Red Vines at similar serving sizes. Comparing the sugar-by-weight percentage rather than the raw gram figure is the fastest way to see past those serving-size differences.

Can People with High Blood Pressure Eat Black Licorice?

They should check with a doctor first. Glycyrrhizin in black licorice can raise blood pressure and lower potassium levels when eaten in excess, a concern that exists separately from the candy’s sugar content. Sugar-free black licorice does not remove this risk, since glycyrrhizin comes from the licorice flavoring, not the sweetener.

Reaching for licorice as a lower-sugar candy does not really work, since even the lightest options carry 12 grams or more per serving unless the label says sugar-free. Checking the serving size on the package, not just the flavor or the brand, is the fastest way to know how much sugar is about to land in your hand.

References

• Red Licorice Twists Nutrition, SnapCalorie
• Black Licorice: Is It Good for You? Pros and Cons, Nutrition Information, and More, WebMD
• Black Licorice Nutrition, SnapCalorie
• Black Licorice Candies, Dr. John’s
• Sugar-Free Black Licorice Nutrition, SnapCalorie
• Red Vines Licorice: 15 Nutrition Facts You Need to Know, Food Facts Hub

Sources read in September 2026.