An iced coffee is a cool pick-me-up on a hot day, but it might not be the caffeine boosting your mood as many of the blends sold by well-known high street coffee chains contain more sugar than a Mars bar or can of Coke.
The consumer group Which? looked at the sugar load in frappés and Frappuccinos being served up this summer by three of the biggest coffee chains, Starbucks, Costa Coffee and Caffè Nero, and found many “regular” size drinks contained more than an adult’s recommended daily allowance.
One of the unhealthiest was a Starbucks caramel Frappuccino, made with semi-skimmed milk, which contained 48.5g, the equivalent of 12 teaspoons’ worth of sugar. NHS health advice suggests a maximum of 30g of free (ie added) sugar a day.
Caffè Nero’s Belgian chocolate and hazelnut frappé crème was not much better, containing 44.5g of sugar, while Costa’s chocolate fudge brownie frappé mocha with oat milk had 42.6g. By comparison, a 51g Mars bar has 31g, while a 330ml can of Coca-Cola has 35g of sugar.
The Which? nutritionist Shefalee Loth said the exercise showed that people “could unwittingly be consuming much more sugar than they realise … High street chains need to take more responsibility and reduce the excessive sugar content of some of their drinks to protect people’s health.”
Consumers might assume that plain coffee flavour frappés and Frappuccinos are healthier, but while they do contain less sugar, Which? found levels were still relatively high. For example, a Costa frappé with skimmed milk has 21.3g of sugar.
In milky drinks some of the sugar content comes from the lactose, but Which? said the drinks it looked at also contained high amounts of free sugars, which are added sugars and those found naturally in syrups, honey and fruit juice.
To avoid the sweet stuff Loth suggests iced coffee drinkers opt for an iced version of a standard coffee because they do not contain added sugar or the sugary syrups used for frappés and Frappuccinos. These are typically unblended and involve a shot of coffee mixed with milk and ice cubes. In Starbucks, for example, an iced Americano contains just 0.2g of sugar.
Zoe Davies, a nutritionist at the scientific research group Action on Sugar, said that every summer “overly sweet drinks make an appearance and it’s disappointing to still see unnecessarily high levels of sugar in them”.
“This drives home the need for measures such as a comprehensive sugar reduction programme or a reformulation tax to ensure that companies are discouraged from pouring in so much sugar in the first place. This would have a positive impact on our nation’s health and their teeth.”
A Starbucks spokesperson pointed out that there were lower sugar options customers could choose and said it was committed to helping them make informed choices, offering full nutritional information.
Caffè Nero said the Belgian chocolate and hazelnut frappé crème was “a treat and only accounts for less than 5% of our summer drinks range”.
Costa Coffee said: “We only offer our limited-edition seasonal drinks, including our summer range of frappes, in small and medium sizes. All drinks can also be customised to reduce the calorie or sugar content, including requesting skimmed milk and removing toppings, or downsizing.”
