BUSTED: Coffee shops, fast food stuff people with sugar

BUSTED: Coffee shops, fast food stuff people with sugar

Thursday, February 18, 2016 8:34 am


Samples of the heavy sugar laced drinks

Samples of the heavy sugar laced drinks. Photo Xinhua

Popular hot drinks containing more than 25 teaspoons of sugar are being sold by high street coffee shop chains, a survey has revealed.

A venti serving of a Hot Mulled Fruit drink from Starbucks, which comes with chai, orange and cinnamon (top left), has 99g of sugar or 25 teaspoons

Coffee and other hot drinks from well-known Starbucks and Costa might contain a shocking 25 teaspoons of sugar per cup, a survey by the campaigning group Action on Sugar showed.

A large or venti serving of a Hot Mulled Fruit drink from Starbucks, which comes with chai, orange and cinnamon, has 99g of sugar, which equates to 25 teaspoons and is more than three times the recommended maximum for an adult for an entire day.

Its White Chocolate Mocha with Whipped Cream from , where a venti has 73.8g or 18 teaspoons of sugar, and Hot Chocolate comes in a 60 g or 15 teaspoons.

Meanwhile Costa’s Chai Latte Massimo has a whopping 79.7g of sugar or 20 teaspoons, and a large mocha from KFC has 58.8g or 15 teaspoons.

About 35 percent of 131 flavoured hot drinks surveyed contain the same amount or more sugar than Coca Cola, which is nine teaspoons per can, equivalent to seven chocolate biscuits.

Moreover, 98 percent of the drinks would receive a red label for high sugar content under guidelines drawn up by the Food Standards Agency, while the recommended maximum daily intake of added sugar for an adult is 30g or around seven teaspoons.

The campaign group is calling for new legally binding targets requiring supermarkets and manufacturers to cut the sugar content in food and drink.

*Story by Xinhua


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