High street coffee chains are serving up Christmas drinks packed with almost as much sugar as THREE KitKats.
A praline cookie hot chocolate at Starbucks contains a whopping 55.3g of sugar – nearly 14 teaspoons.
In comparison, a 41g four-finger KitKat contains 20.5g, or five teaspoons, of sugar. So scoffing three bars would mean consuming just one teaspoon more than is in a single venti serving of Starbucks’ sweet treat.
A large-size venti Starbucks’ toffee nut coffee cappuccino has a hefty 49.6g – 12 teaspoons – of sugar.
Costa’s medium Terry’s Chocolate Orange hot chocolate and light dairy swirl packs in 42.2g – 10.5 teaspoons.
And at Caffe Nero, a salted caramel brownie hot chocolate with creamy vegan topping contains a similar 42.3g of sugar.
The NHS recommends an adult consumes no more than 30g a day – or seven teaspoons’ worth.
Nutritionist Zoe Davies, of campaign group Action on Sugar, called for extra sugar taxes to tackle the obesity crisis.
She said: “Companies must be discouraged from adding so much unnecessary sugar to our drinks to go some way to helping prevent the unnecessary deaths and suffering of thousands.”
Dr Linda Greenwall, founder of Dental Wellness Trust, said 45,000 people had to have ops to remove rotten teeth, adding: “Retailers must act more responsibly.”
Tam Fry, of the National Obesity Forum, blamed the Government.
He added: “The majority of its obesity proposals published in July 2020 have yet to be implemented.”
Costa Coffee said sugar levels could be reduced by ordering in a smaller size and removing toppings.
Caffe Nero said it had zero-calories beverages on offer, adding: “Our festive drinks are an occasional treat for customers to choose if they wish.”
Starbucks did not respond.
