‘Excessive!’ Major high street chains sells iced coffees with more sugar than Mars bar
A view of Starbucks Coffee across the road from rival brand Costa Coffee in Nottingham
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Major high street chains are selling iced coffee with more sugar than a Mars bar or can of Coke, research has revealed.
Drinking just one cooling frappe or Frappuccino from some prominent outlets would exceed the total maximum recommended daily sugar intake.
However, the companies have not been forced to cough up extra cash as part of the Government’s sugar tax due to a specific legal loophole.
A Starbucks caramel Frappuccino with semi-skimmed milk contains 48.5 grams of sugar, well above the 30 grams recommended.
People wait outside Starbucks on Portobello Road in London
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A Caffe Nero Belgian chocolate and hazelnut frappe creme contained 44.5 grams of sugar.
A chocolate fudge brownie frappe mocha with oat milk from Costa also includes 42.6 grams of sugar.
Which? nutritionist Shefalee Loth said: "Our analysis of sugar content in iced coffee blends shows people could unwittingly be consuming much more sugar than they realise, with potentially damaging implications for their health.
"High street chains need to take more responsibility and reduce the excessive sugar content of some of their drinks to protect people’s health.
A general view of a Costa Coffee sign
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"When buying an iced drink, there are alternative, healthier options to choose."
Starbucks said: "We are committed to helping customers make informed and improved choices, offering a range of customisation options such as choosing our smallest size (tall) and our oat dairy alternative with no added sugar.
"Customers can find nutritional information on our mobile app, online and our menu boards."
A Costa Coffee spokesman said: “We are proud to offer a balanced range of drinks which also includes, as part of our summer menu, a fruity range of Refreshers which all contain less than 40 calories and two teaspoons of added sugar per serving.
A general view of a Caffe Nero cafe on in Sheffield, UK
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All drinks can also be customised to reduce the calorie or sugar content, including requesting skimmed milk and removing toppings, or downsizing to a smaller cup size.”
Caffe Nero said: “The Belgian chocolate and hazelnut frappè crème is a treat and only accounts for less than five per cent of our summer drinks range sales.
"Coffee over Ice drinks (Iced latte, iced americano and iced flat white) which have less than 8g of sugar, account for 50 per cent of summer drink sales.”