When someone somewhere decided that this year’s consumer enemy would be sugar, the focus was depressingly sharpened on convenience stores – they sell sugary drinks, they sell chocolate and sweets, they are evil incarnate!
Okay, UTC is willing to concede he may be exaggerating there, but after almost a year of being singled out, UTC was delighted to see that focus move onto coffee shops, and when it did, boy did those guys look bad.
So, there’s sugar in sugary drinks. We know that. That’s why 49% of all soft drinks sold are low sugar or low calories versions. Ask punters on the street, almost everyone would be aware there’s a fair wad of sugar in a can of ginger.
Ask them how much is in a coffee from Starbucks, and they’d probably say ‘a bit’ or ‘some’. Ask them how much is in a Chai Latte, and some would say ‘a what?’, others would say, ‘dunno, bit more than a normal coffee?’.
In reality, it turns out coffee shops are piling impressive amounts of sugar into some hot drinks. Take for example, the Hot Mulled Fruit –Grape with Chai, Orange and Cinnamon Venti from Starbucks, which has 25 teaspoons of sugar in it! Over at rival Costa, a Chai Latte Massimo has 20 teaspoons of sugar.
That said, if you’re ordering a Hot Mulled Fruit – Grape with Chai, Orange and Cinnamon Venti the amount of sugar in it is probably the least of your problems.
