Bad news coffee lovers, your morning fix is now another thing to keep your health-conscious eye on – and not just because of the caffeine content.
Yes, the sugar levels in your take out coffee will shock you.
The revelation has come from a campaign group, Action on Sugar, who’ve set out to make people aware of the hidden numbers in our favourite hot drink.
Analysing 131 drinks across the high street, they found an astounding one-third of those beverages contained NINE teaspoons of sugar!
Equalling the same as your favourite fizzy drinks, this means that the hot option of pick-me-ups may not be the healthier choice after all.
And if you thought nine was a big number to get your head around, the researchers revealed that some of the order options equalled to as many as TWENTY teaspoons of sugar.
Of the large sample size, the charity said that 9 per cent would be slapped with a red warning label, and 55 per cent of drinks have equivalent to or more than an adult’s daily recommended allowance of the white stuff.
NO wonder we feel buzzing for the first few hours of the morning.
Kawther Hashem, a researcher in this project, said: "These hot flavoured drinks should be an occasional treat, not an everyday drink.
"They are laden with an unbelievable amount of sugar and calories and are often accompanied by a high sugar and fat snack."
Guilty…
Meanwhile, the chairty’s chairman, Professor Graham MacGregor, claimed that it was "yet again another example of scandalous amounts of sugar added to our food and drink."
He added: "No wonder we have the highest rates of obesity in Europe.”
The most popular coffee houses have said that they will be taking action in light of this news being put to the public.
Speaking to the BBC, these chains had the following to say:
Starbucks
“"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” and say they’re “"committed to reduce added sugar" in their indulgent drinks by as much as 25 per cent in four years.
Caffe Nero
“"We have already made changes to reduce the sugar content of some of our iced drinks for summer 2016 by over 10%.
"In addition, we offer sugar free syrups for many drinks, and all nutritional information is available on our website so that customers can make an informed choice. This will remain a focus as we look at the sugar content in all our drinks over the coming years."
This comes in light on the ongoing debate over whether we should introduce a national sugar tax.
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