Open Food Labels. Search 867 ingredients⌘K

Molasses

What the research shows

Unclear

the research on this page hasn’t settled it

A thick liquid left over from making sugar from sugarcane or sugar beets.

Sugarcane molasses is usually used to sweeten and flavour foods.12

What research says

Studies in people

  • Open question

    Iron levels in babies3

    In babies without anemia, grape molasses gave them about as much iron as iron supplements did.

Animal and lab studies only

  • Benefit

    DNA damage protection4

    In lab studies, molasses fractions protected DNA from damage caused by harmful molecules called peroxyl radicals.

  • Benefit

    Cell protection from stress5

    In lab studies, sugar cane molasses protected human liver cells from oxidative stress, similar to vitamin E.

The signal at the top counts the findings in people and in animal and lab studies. A concern in studies of people outranks animal and lab studies, and “No concerns” needs at least one finding in people. When most findings in people point one way, the page leans that way (“Mostly”), and every finding is still shown. Findings whose study type is not stated are shown but not counted. This page is a reference, not medical advice. It describes what regulators and published research say. Talk to a doctor or dietitian about your own diet.

Products

The 6 most-scanned of 16,168 products on Open Food Facts that list molasses.

  • Crunchy oats&honey Nature valley · 42 g 2 additives
  • Crunchy Oats & Dark Chocolate Nature Valley · 42 g 2 additives
  • Organic Bread 21 Whole Grains and Seeds Dave's Killer Bread · 765 g 0 additives
  • Thin-Sliced Organic Bread 21 Whole Grains and Seeds Dave's Killer Bread · 20.5 oz 0 additives
  • Rye and Mixed Seed Sourdough Bread finest · 400 g 1 additive
  • Crunchy Oats & Honey Nature Valley · 420 g 2 additives

References

  1. 1molasses: ingredient taxonomy entry. Open Food Facts.
  2. 2Molasses. Wikipedia. Accessed September 26, 2026. CC BY-SA 4.0.
  3. 3Aslan Y, Erduran E, Mocan H, et al. Absorption of iron from grape-molasses and ferrous sulfate: a comparative study in normal subjects and subjects with iron deficiency anemia. Turk J Pediatr. 1997;39(4):465-71.
  4. 4Asikin Y, Takahashi M, Mishima T, Mizu M, Takara K, Wada K. Antioxidant activity of sugarcane molasses against 2,2'-azobis(2-amidinopropane) dihydrochloride-induced peroxyl radicals. Food Chem. 2013;141(1):466-72. doi:10.1016/j.foodchem.2013.03.045
  5. 5Valli V, Gómez-Caravaca AM, Di Nunzio M, Danesi F, Caboni MF, Bordoni A. Sugar cane and sugar beet molasses, antioxidant-rich alternatives to refined sugar. J Agric Food Chem. 2012;60(51):12508-15. doi:10.1021/jf304416d