As a self-confessed coffee addict, I read the BBC article entitled “’Shocking’ sugar levels in High Street hot drinks, warns charity” (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-35593007 ) with some trepidation. This article highlights the exceptionally high sugar content of many drinks sold in popular High Street cafes. I must admit to being very shocked at the claim that 98% of the drinks tested would be given a red nutritional value label for sugar content.

To illustrate how bad the drinks reported actually are, compare them to a can of cola which contains nine teaspoons of sugar (roughly equal to 36 grams), considered very high. Looking at the ‘worst offenders’ in this article reveals they contain up to an astonishing 25 teaspoons (roughly 100 grams) of sugar. This is especially disquieting as it is recommended (http://www.nhs.uk/chq/pages/1139.aspx?categoryid=51) we have no more than 5% of our daily energy coming from sugars, equivalent to about 30 grams or seven and a half teaspoons. The worst offender in this report provides us with over three times our recommended daily amount of sugar!

The drinks tested included flavoured coffees, fruit drinks and hot chocolates, so the outcomes reported are not entirely unexpected, although the full extent of the problem was somewhat surprising. My only consolation from reading this article is that my favourite beverage, your bog-standard black coffee, was conspicuously absent. I am taking this to mean, regardless of its veracity, that drinking coffee is actually good for me as suggested in this (somewhat unpersuasive) NHS Choices article, “Coffee ‘can make you live longer’ claims” (http://www.nhs.uk/news/2015/11November/Pages/Coffee-can-make-you-live-longer-claims.aspx) – who says I am deluded?