BreakingNews·191207-Sugar overdose warning for coffee chain festive drinks

A health group has warned people to be careful about how much sugar is in their drinks when they go to coffee shops. Many cafes in the UK are adding extra sugar and syrup to their festive drinks in the run-up to Christmas. The health group is called Action on Sugar (AOS). It carried out research on how sweet hot drinks were in coffee chains around the country. It found that some lattes and hot chocolates contained as much as 23 spoons of sugar. It analysed over 200 different drinks. The researchers said they found "shockingly" high levels of sugar in many of the drinks. An AOS spokesperson said people with obesity, diabetes and other health conditions needed to check what they were drinking.

Action On Sugar analysed drinks from nine different coffee shop chains. It found the unhealthiest drink was the Starbucks "Venti" caramel hot chocolate. It contained 93.7g of sugar and 758 calories. AOS says it has as much sugar as three cans of Coca-Cola. A spokeswoman for Starbucks said: "We are committed to reducing sugar in all our beverages and since 2015 we've delivered a nine per cent reduction in the sugar content." Katharine Jenner, a director at AOS, said: "The hospitality industry has a key role to play in being transparent. It must help to reduce the amount of sugar we consume. Sugar is one of the biggest causes of obesity, type 2 diabetes and tooth decay."