Extrinsic sugars are the sugars added to a foodstuff to enhance the flavour — and, in the broader nutritional definition, all sugars outside the cellular structure of food, including the sugars of fruit juice and honey. The term distinguishes them from intrinsic sugars, the lactose of milk and the sugars locked inside whole fruit’s cells, which the body handles more gently. Extrinsic sugars — table sugar stirred into tea, the glucose syrup in confectionery, the honey drizzled on yoghurt — deliver sweetness without the fibre, water, and micronutrients that slow and accompany intrinsic sugars, and they are the sugars most strongly linked to dental caries and excess energy intake. Dietary guidelines target them for reduction under names like “free sugars” or “added sugars.” The distinction is structural: inside the cell wall, or outside it.