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ced espresso drinks from excessive avenue chains can include extra sugar than a Mars bar or can of Coca-Cola, a survey has discovered.
Which? in contrast frappes and frappuccinos from Caffe Nero, Costa and Starbucks to search out many had “exceptionally excessive” quantities of sugar.
One of many unhealthiest choices was a Starbucks caramel frappuccino with semi-skimmed milk containing 48.5g of sugar, or 12 teaspoons’ value.
NHS well being recommendation suggests adults devour a most of 30g of sugar per day, or round seven teaspoons.
A Caffe Nero Belgian chocolate and hazelnut frappe creme contained 44.5g of sugar, equal to 11 teaspoons.
At Costa, a chocolate fudge brownie frappe mocha with oat milk included 42.6g of sugar, or 10.5 teaspoons.
A 51g Mars bar accommodates 31g of sugar, or 7.5 teaspoons, whereas a 330ml can of Coca-Cola accommodates 35g of sugar, or round eight and a half teaspoons.
Even plain espresso flavour frappes and frappuccinos had been discovered to include “comparatively excessive” quantities of sugar.
A Costa Espresso frappe with skimmed milk contained 21.3g of sugar, Which? discovered.
Whereas the calorie content material of the drinks should be displayed in shops, the sugar content material doesn’t, which may depart shoppers prone to unwittingly exceeding the utmost really useful every day consumption of free sugars, the watchdog mentioned.
Dairy-based drinks derive some “locked in” sugar from lactose, however all of the drinks additionally contained excessive quantities of “free sugars”, these which have been added and contained in syrups, honey and fruit juice.
Well being recommendation is to restrict consumption of those sugars on account of their potential to contribute to weight achieve and tooth harm.
Which? urged shoppers wishing to chop their sugar consumption swap to iced variations of a normal espresso as a substitute.
The Authorities launched a Smooth Drinks Trade Levy (SDIL) in 2018, generally known as the “sugar tax”, in an try to chop unhealthy ranges of consumption.
Nevertheless, some drinks are exempt from the tax, together with fruit juices and drinks made on-site and served in open cups.
Syrups, usually utilized in frappes, are additionally exempt.
Which? nutritionist Shefalee Loth mentioned: “Our evaluation of sugar content material in iced espresso blends reveals folks may unwittingly be consuming far more sugar than they realise, with doubtlessly damaging implications for his or her well being.
“Excessive avenue chains have to take extra duty and scale back the extreme sugar content material of a few of their drinks to guard folks’s well being.
“When shopping for an iced drink, there are different, more healthy choices to decide on, equivalent to a normal iced espresso, which accommodates far much less sugar.”
A Starbucks spokeswoman mentioned: “We’re dedicated to serving to clients make knowledgeable and improved decisions that work for them, providing a variety of customisation choices equivalent to selecting our smallest dimension (Tall) and our oat dairy different with no added sugar.
“Sugar content material for an Iced Latte with Semi Skimmed Milk, one among our hottest drinks, begins from 8.7g for a Tall dimension.
Prospects can discover all dietary info obtainable on our cellular app, on-line and our menu boards.”
Caffe Nero mentioned its Belgian chocolate and hazelnut frappe creme was a “deal with” and accounted for lower than 5% of its gross sales of summer time drinks, whereas “espresso over ice” drinks, which contained lower than 8g of sugar, accounted for 50% of summer time drink gross sales.
The chain added that its iced latte, its highest vendor, contained no added sugar.
A Costa Espresso spokeswoman mentioned: “We’re proud to supply a balanced vary of drinks which additionally consists of, as a part of our summer time menu, a fruity vary of refreshers which all include lower than 40 energy and two teaspoons of added sugar per serving.
“We solely supply our limited-edition seasonal drinks, together with our summer time vary of frappes, in small and medium sizes.
“All drinks will also be customised to scale back the calorie or sugar content material, together with requesting skimmed milk and eradicating toppings, or downsizing to a smaller cup dimension.”
