Also known as: table sugar, saccharose
Sucrose
Sourced from FDA-approved package inserts (DailyMed). Last verified: 2026-07-07.
What It Is & Why It's in Vaccines
Sucrose is common table sugar — a disaccharide composed of glucose and fructose. It is used as a stabilizer and cryoprotectant in lyophilized (freeze-dried) vaccines.
Stabilizer/cryoprotectant — sucrose replaces water molecules around protein antigens during freeze-drying, preventing structural damage. This is the same principle by which sugar preserves food — it maintains molecular structure in the absence of water.
Dose-in-Context
Per-Dose Quantity
1.9–20 mg per dose (varies by product). For comparison, one teaspoon of sugar contains approximately 4,000 mg (4 grams) of sucrose — more than 200 times the highest vaccine dose.
Reference Comparison
Sucrose is a dietary staple consumed in gram quantities daily with no known toxicity at food-level doses. A vaccine dose containing a few milligrams of sucrose represents a negligible fraction of daily dietary sugar intake — less than the sucrose content of a single raisin.
Source: DailyMed package inserts: M-M-R II, Varivax, ProQuad.
Route-of-Administration Note
Injected route. Parenteral sucrose is rapidly hydrolyzed to glucose and fructose by systemic sucrase enzymes and metabolized normally. No specific parenteral toxicity is documented at vaccine-dose levels.
Documented Adverse Effects
No adverse effects have been attributed to sucrose in vaccines. Individuals with diabetes or hereditary fructose intolerance (HFI) should be aware that injected sucrose is metabolized to glucose + fructose, but the quantities involved (a few milligrams) are metabolically negligible — less than the carbohydrate content of a single breath mint.
Vaccines Containing Sucrose
MMR — M-M-R II (Merck Sharp & Dohme LLC)
Live attenuated; no adjuvant. Product contains no preservative.
COVID-19 — Comirnaty (Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine, mRNA) (Pfizer Inc. / BioNTech)
LNP lipids are the delivery system, not classical adjuvants. PEGylated lipid is structurally related to PEG.
COVID-19 — Spikevax (Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine, mRNA) (ModernaTX, Inc.)
Varicella — Varivax (Merck Sharp & Dohme LLC)
Rotavirus — RotaTeq (Merck Sharp & Dohme LLC)
Rotavirus — Rotarix (GlaxoSmithKline Biologicals)
Hib — ActHIB (Sanofi Pasteur)
Unadjuvanted conjugate (unlike PedvaxHIB).
Meningococcal — Menveo (GlaxoSmithKline Biologicals)
Meningococcal — Bexsero (GlaxoSmithKline Biologicals)
Shingles — Shingrix (GlaxoSmithKline Biologicals)
RSV — Abrysvo (Pfizer Inc.)
Unadjuvanted protein subunit RSV vaccine (contrast Arexvy AS01E).
Typhoid — Vivotif (Bavarian Nordic / Emergent)
Cholera — Vaxchora (Emergent Travel Health / Bavarian Nordic)
ⓘ Methodology Disclaimer: Ingredient lists are sourced from official FDA-approved package inserts for the specific branded products named on each vaccine page. Formulations can change between manufacturing lots and over time — always verify against the current package insert before making a clinical decision. The presence of a substance in a vaccine does not by itself indicate harm; toxicology is dose-, route-, and context-dependent. Comparisons to reference exposure levels are provided with their sources where available, and are approximate — see the cited source for full methodology.