Pret a Manger festive hot chocolate contains 47.9g of sugar: how do Starbucks, Costa and Greggs compare?

But how much damage could those treats do to your health?

The 10 most sugary festive drinks have now been revealed, with some containing as much as 47 grams of sugar per drink.

The sugar content was based on a ‘regular’ sized drink from each store, with semi-skimmed milk.

High sugar content

Expert dietitians at The Hospital Group studied all the high street festive hot drink offerings from Starbucks, Costa Coffee, Caffé Nero, Pret a Manger, McDonald’s and Greggs. They found that Pret a Manger’s Mint Hot Chocolate and Hazelnut Hot Chocolate both contained a staggering 47.9g of sugar.

At the bottom of the top 10 list is Costa’s Hazelnut Praline & Cream Frostino, which is still high in sugar content, containing 33.2g of sugar.

However, in regards to daily sugar intake, the NHS explains that “adults should have no more than 30g of free sugars a day.”

Equivalent to three mince pies

Research also found that the average mince pie contained around 14 to 16 grams of sugar, which means that some of the Christmas drinks are equivalent to three portions of the festive snack.

Top 10 most sugary drinks

Pret a Manger - Mint Hot Chocolate - 47.9g sugar Pret a Manger - Hazelnut Hot Chocolate - 47.9 sugar Greggs - Mint Mocha - 46g sugar Greggs - Mint Hot Chocolate - 46g sugar Caffé Nero - Salted Caramel Hot Chocolate - 38.8g sugar Caffé Nero - Hazelnut Hot Chocolate - 38.2g sugar Starbucks - Toasted Marshmallow Hot Chocolate - 36.7g sugar Caffé Nero - Ginger Hot Chocolate - 35.8g sugar Starbucks - Egg Nog Latte - 33.8g sugar Costa Coffee - Hazelnut Praline & Cream Frostino - 33.2g sugar

A Starbucks spokesperson said: “All our drinks can be customized, such as asking for our smallest size; Short, requesting skimmed milk and less or no whipped cream. To help make it easier for customers to make informed choices, nutritional information is also available in-store, on our mobile app and online.

“We are committed to reducing sugar in all our beverages and since 2015, we’ve delivered a 9% reduction in the sugar content of our Gingerbread and core syrup range of vanilla, caramel and hazelnut.”