Shockingly high sugar levels found in coffee shop drinks

Some high street coffee shops are putting dangerously high levels of sugar in their drinks, according to a campaign group.

Action on Sugar carried out tests on more than 100 popular hot drinks and found some had as much as 25 teaspoons of sugar in per serving.

A third of the hot drinks tested contain the same amount or more sugar than Coca Cola - which contains nine teaspoons of sugar per can, a spokesman said.

The drinks assessed included flavoured coffees, mochas and lattes, hot fruit drinks and hot chocolates among others which are widely bought from some of the UK's best known coffee shops and fast food chains.

The drink which was found to have the highest sugar content was Starbucks' venti Grape with Chai, Orange and Cinnamon Hot Mulled Fruit, which had a total of 25 teaspoons ofsugar per serving, the campaign group said.

Costa's massimo eat-in Chai Latte was found to contain 20 teaspoons of sugar while Starbucks' venti White Chocolate Mocha with Whipped Cream was found to have 18, a spokesman added.

KFC's mocha and Starbucks' Signature Hot Chocolate both had 15 Teaspoons of sugar per serving while Caffe Nero's drink-in Caramelatte had 13, Action on Sugar said.

A third of drinks had more sugar in than coca cola. Credit: Reuters

Professor Graham MacGregor, chair of Action on Sugar, said: "This is yet again another example of scandalous amount of sugar added to our food and drink. No wonder we have the highest rates of obesity in Europe.

A statement from Starbucks said: "Earlier this year we committed to reduce added sugar in our indulgent drinks by 25% by the end of 2020.

"We also offer a wide variety of lighter options, sugar-free syrups and sugar-free natural sweetener and we display all nutritional information in-store and online."

Kerry Parkin, head of communications at Costa, added: "Costa takes the nutritional balance of our food and drink very seriously and we have already taken significant steps to reduce the sugar content of our ranges.

"We intend to continue improving the balance of our product offerings while maintaining the high quality and great taste our customers expect. This April we will be setting salt and sugar reduction targets for 2020."