Although many guidelines to healthy eating recommend restriction of the intake of extrinsic (refined) sugar, there are concerns that such restriction might result in an increase in the amount and the proportion of dietary fats with a consequent possible increase in the risk of cardiovascular disease. We used regression analysis to examine the determinants of fat intake in subjects from a population survey who had weighed their food for 4 days. In men (n = 77) and women (n = 83), fat eaten was positively related to the intake of extrinsic sugar. When intakes were expressed as percent of calories the relation became negative. A survey in a semi-random sample of 739 men aged 40-69 yr and 976 women aged 25-69 yr showed that, in both sexes, an increase in extrinsic sugar was associated with a linear increase in the intake of sweetened fat and hence of fat combined with carbohydrate. This was due mainly to a higher intake of cakes and biscuits. Foods containing sugar and fat provided an extra 12.0 g per day of fat in the men and 13.8 g per day in the women when the highest quartile of extrinsic sugar consumers were compared with the lowest quartile. We conclude that lowering the intake of extrinsic sugar is unlikely to be associated with higher fat intake. Instead extrinsic sugar may act as a vehicle for fat intake, encouraging consumption by making the fat more palatable.