Sugar Overload? Starbucks' Holiday-Themed Hot Drink Contains Whopping 23 Teaspoons Of Sugar

Starbucks is bringing cheer to the season with its holiday-themed beverage offerings. One of these drinks caught the attention of a non-profit group since one serving contains a whopping 23 teaspoons of sugar.

According to an NYPost report, the study that did the survey on Starbucks’beverages was commissioned by the Action on Sugar, a British non-profit organization. They found that the American coffee chain’s venti-sized Signature Caramel Hot Chocolate topped with whipped cream and luscious oat milk contains an overload of sugar.

Sugar Overload

The 20-oz drink reportedly has 783 calories, with an equivalent of 23 teaspoons of sugar. According to the notes of the group, these staggering numbers equal to four white chocolates, as well as strawberry muffins.

A beverage that contains 23 teaspoons of sugar and offers the consumer 783 calories in just one drink may not sound attractive to diabetics. This would warrant a spike in blood sugar, which diabetic patients wouldn’t want to deal with.

The next in line from the Signature Caramel Hot Chocolate Drink of Starbucks is their venti Gingerbread Latte with Oat Milk. This contains less than 20 teaspoons of sugar, which for many, would still be quite a high amount. The calories were reduced by almost 200, with one cup having 523 calories.

What Experts Say

The American Heart Association gave recommendations as to the amount of sugar that could be consumed by men and women. According to AHA, women must not consume more than 25 grams of sugar in one day. Men have a higher threshold. The recommendation of the institute was 38 grams per day. To give you an idea, 1 teaspoon of sugar weighs approximately 4 grams.

The organization revealed that they last did the survey in 2016. However, there were only a few coffee chains that actually reduced the amount of sugar on their beverages. There were even some that increased the amount, especially in their special holiday drinks.

Starbucks, after being compared with other coffee chains based in the UK like Caffe Nero and Costa Coffee, still ranked the highest in sugar content for their lattes and hot chocolates. A spokesperson of the coffee chain told CNN that they have reduced sugar content and that customers could always choose smaller or other alternatives that could suit them.