'Shocking Amounts Of Sugar' Hidden In Hot Drinks
An Expert from the University of Liverpool is warning there is a 'shocking' amount of sugar hidden many hot drinks found on the high street.
he campaign group Action on Sugar analysed 131 hot flavoured drinks and found 98% would receive a ‘red’ (high) label for excessive levels of sugars per serving as sold.
35% of the hot flavoured drinks analysed contained the same amount or more sugars than Coca Cola, which contains a massive 9 teaspoons of sugar per can – equivalent to 7 chocolate biscuits.
The worst offender is the Starbucks’s Hot Mulled Fruit - Grape with Chai, Orange and Cinnamon Venti (extra-large) – a mix of chai and fruit concentrate, topped with a cinnamon stick and a slice of orange – which contains 25 teaspoons of sugar (that’s the equivalent of sugar in 5 muffins) , followed by Costa Coffee’s Chai Latte (large) with a massive 20 teaspoons of sugar. Interestingly, a Starbucks’s Hot Mulled Fruit - Grape with Chai, Orange and Cinnamon Tall (medium) has almost half the amount of sugar than the larger sized cup (13 vs 25 tsp).
From the entire out-of-home hot drinks surveyed, 55% contain the equivalent, or more than, the maximum daily recommended amount of sugars for an adult and teenager (30g – 7tsp/d).
When it comes to hot drinks that are perceived to be ‘healthy’, a Starbucks’s Chai Tea Latte Venti (extra-large) contains 13 teaspoons of sugar per serving alongside Eat’s Chai Latte Big and Matcha Latte Big at 11 teaspoons.
Starbucks sells two sizes larger than a typical medium serving size of 340ml, at 454ml & 568ml – adding to the excessive sugar intake in many of its hot flavoured drinks.
Professor Simon Capewell from the University of Liverpool is also the Vice President of the Uk Faculty Of Public Health
He said: "The recomended level is now 5 or 6 teaspoons a day, and we're now seeing Lattes with that much, or four days woth in one single cup, it's quite shocking."
"This is a wake up call. There is a lot of sugar hidden in hot drinks, junk food, we're eating two or three times as much sugar as health experts would recommend"
Kawther Hashem, Registered Nutritionist and Researcher for Action on Sugar says, “Coffee shop chains must immediately reduce the amount of sugar in these hot drinks, improve their labelling and stop selling the extra-large serving sizes.
A Starbucks spokeswoman 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."