Sugary Drinks

10 of the highest sugar non-fizzy drinks

Fizzy drinks always get a bad rap when it comes to sugar, but other soft drinks can be just as harmful to your health. You might think tea is healthy, for example, but choose a sweetened iced tea and you could be consuming as much as 5.5 teaspoons of sugar in one bottle - that’s almost as much as some chocolate bars!

Here are some other popular choices that could be hiding too much of the sweet stuff:

1. ^*Starbucks Venti Flavoured Hot Chocolate / Mocha / Coffee (Up to) 93g (23tsps)
2. Welch’s 100% Purple Grape Juice 82g (20 tsps)
3. ^*McDonalds Large Milkshake 60-76g (19 tsps)
4. Frijj Fudge Brownie Milkshake 54g (13.5 tsps)
5. Yop Strawberry Yoghurt Drink 52g (13 tsps)
6. Nesquik Strawberry Milkshake 49.5g (12 tsps)
7. Mars Flavoured Milk 48g (12 tsps)
8. Tropicana Orange Juice 45g (11g)
9. Rubicon Exotic Passion Fruit Juice 24g (6 tsps)
10. Lipton Peach Iced Tea 22g (5.5 tsps)

This is not a definitive list. Information is based on research using a popular drinks selection – Jan 2020.

Based on 500ml servings

^*Based on sizes as served.

How can you cut down on sugary drinks?

Anything with flavouring usually means added sugar, so try to stick to plain versions when choosing a hot drink. But always check the label, as sugar comes under many different names. It’s best to look for ‘unsweetened’ or ‘reduced sugar’ varieties. You can also recreate low-sugar versions of your favourite drinks.

Ask for just 1-2 pumps of sugar-free syrup and no whipped cream on your coffee or make a smoothie at home where you can control all the ingredients.