From gingerbread to eggnog, toffee nut to roasted hazelnut, lattes bursting with a flavour of Christmas tempt us each year.
But rather than thinking of the delicious nectar as ‘just a coffee’, the hidden calories and high sugar levels lurking in your festive cup mean it should really come with a health warning.
Warming and tasty though they are, the majority contain more than a person’s daily recommended sugar intake in one medium-sized portion.
And going skinny won’t help either. In many cases, drinks made from skimmed milk contained more sugar than full fat options.
Either way, drinking one every day until Christmas could see your weight creep up by half a stone, experts warn.
The World Health Organisation recently reviewed its guidelines on how much sugar should be incorporated into a healthy diet.
While it has previously recommended men consume no more than 70g and women 50g a day, those guidelines have been slashed to 35g and 25g respectively.
This equates to no more than nine for men and six for women.
Diets high in sugar can increase a person’s risk of heart disease, type 2 diabetes and tooth decay.
Journalists compared the nutritional information of 20 different drinks on sale at Starbucks, Costa Coffee and Cafe Nero.
Of those, just four had less than a woman’s daily recommended sugar intake of 25g (roughly five teaspoons).
While the worst offender – a Starbucks skimmed Honey and Almond Hot Chocolate with whip – contained a ‘shocking’ 61g or 15 teaspoons – the equivalent to around two Mars Bars.
And the dangers are not limited to sugar alone.
A grande Honey and Almond Hot Chocolate from Starbucks – made with full fat milk and topped off with a frothy crown of whipped cream – contains 524 calories .
This is a quarter of a woman’s daily allowance (2,000 calories) and more than the 508 calories nestling inside a McDonald’s Big Mac.
Meanwhile seven of the skinny drinks – Starbucks’ chai tea latte, Honey and Almond Hot Chocolate (without whip), Toffee Nut latte (without whip) and Peppermint Mocha latte (with whip), and Costa’s Roasted Hazelnut, caramel and chai lattes – had more sugar than their full fat equivalents.
Dietitian Helen Bond said it is important for people to indulge in a festive treat at this time of year, they should be considered just that – a treat.
The danger, she said, is that people popping into their local cafe will choose a tempting festive special and not realise the number of calories it contains.
‘People go into coffee shops thinking, “I’ll just grab a coffee”,’ she said.
‘But what they forget is the liquid calories they are consuming. Often a festive coffee will accompany something else, a muffin or a cake, for example.
‘And because it is viewed as “just a coffee”, people often discount the calories and sugar levels in the drink, focusing just on the food.’
Putting the nutritional information into perspective, Mrs Bond considered someone who chose to ‘treat’ themselves to one of Starbucks’ full fat Honey and Almond Hot Chocolates, complete with whipped cream, each day of the week.
Over seven days, a person would add a staggering 3,668 calories to their weekly balance – the equivalent of 1lb in weight.
Taking in the entire festive period with just seven weeks until Christmas, a festive coffee habit could see a person consume an extra 25,676 calories and add 7lbs – or half a stone – to their waistline.
People go into coffee shops thinking, “I’ll just grab a coffee”. But what they forget is the liquid calories they are consuming
‘This drink with 524 calories makes up a quarter of a woman’s daily allowance, and it is just one drink,’ Mrs Bond said.
‘Yes, it is going to give you some nutrition in terms of the milk and the caffeine will keep you alert.
‘But these drinks are full of what we call negative liquid calories, because they don’t help you feel full.
‘There is much more of a focus on sugar and the risks associated with consuming high levels of sugar, including an increased risk of dental problems, diabetes and other health problems.
‘Liquid calories also promote weight gain. People need to think about minimising their liquid calorie intake each day.
‘These drinks don’t promote feelings of fullness and, as a result, people tend not to compensate by eating fewer calories later in the day [to make up for the extra calories from the coffee].’
She added: ‘It is important to treat yourself, but it is so important to be aware of what exactly is in the drinks you enjoy each day.’
Mrs Bond welcomed the clear marking of nutritional information in coffee shops, urging high street chains to make the information as readily available as possible.
‘I have, in the past, struggled to find this nutritional information myself, while it is on the various websites,’ she said.
It should be clearly in front of customers at the till.
‘Some people will still choose to ignore the dangers, but it is about giving people the choice.
‘Without that choice people don’t know what they are putting in their bodies.
‘If anything, psychologically it is good for people to be aware of this information, giving them a chance to account for it later in the day, by eating fewer calories and making healthier decisions.’
In many cases, the skimmed or skinny versions of the drinks contained more sugar than full fat options.
And the lowest sugar levels were found in drinks made with soya milk.
Mrs Bond added this is no surprise given that soya milk contains no lactose – a natural form of sugar found in milk.
‘When you remove lactose, you remove some of the sugar,’ she said. ‘Often soya products are lower in sugar as a result.’
A Starbucks’ spokeswoman said the chain was the first to display calories on in-store menu boards and added that all nutritional information is available on their website.
She said: ‘We offer our customers a range of drinks, from four calories, zero sugar filter coffee to a more indulgent festive drink.
‘There are over 80,000 ways to customise Starbucks drinks, including choosing skimmed milk or forgoing whipped cream to create lighter drinks options.’
A Costa spokeswoman said: ‘Costa seeks to provide customers with a choice of products across its drink and food ranges all year round.
‘While some customers will want to indulge in a Costa festive treat, we also provide customers with the option of selecting lower-calorie drinks from our standard range or the option to customise their drinks if they choose by selecting sugar-free syrup or skimmed milk.’
Doctors say keeping to a maximum of six teaspoons of sugar a day is key to avoiding obesity, heart disease and other serious illnesses because they fear sugar is as dangerous as tobacco.
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