Your favorite iced summer coffee could contain 46 teaspoons of sugar the same as drinking 5 cans

Publish date: 2024-07-27

More and more people are choosing cold coffees over hot ones.
But many iced coffees contain more added sugar than the FDA recommends having in an entire day.
Insider looked at the sugar content of drinks from popular brands including Starbucks and Dunkin.

Switching your morning coffee for an iced drink like a Starbucks Frappuccino or a flavored cold brew is a summer ritual many of us look forward to.

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And recent data shows that more and more people are opting for cold coffees over hot ones, with cold drinks accounting for 75% of Starbucks' beverage sales.

But the swap — even to a medium-sized beverage that we might think is a moderate choice — can see us unknowingly consuming more added sugar than the Food and Drug Administration recommends in a whole day in just one drink.

Some iced coffees from some of America's favorite brands contain as much sugar as five cans of regular Coke (one can has 35 grams of sugar), an analysis by Insider of products from Starbucks, Dunkin, McDonald's, Tim Hortons, Panera Bread, and Peet's Coffee found.

According to the FDA, a person who eats 2,000 calories a day shouldn't consume more than 50 grams, or 12.5 teaspoons, of added sugar daily. Most Americans get added sugars from sugar-sweetened beverages, baked goods, desserts, and sweets, it said.

The American Heart Association's guidelines for daily sugar intake are even lower. The non-profit says that men should have no more than 36g or 9 teaspoons per day, while for women it's 25g or 6 teaspoons.

People who consume sugary drinks regularly are more likely to face health problems such as obesity, type 2 diabetes, heart, disease, cavities, and gout, according to the CDC.

Iced coffees can contain as much as 185 grams of sugar

As a point of comparison, while a Grande Starbucks cappuccino contains 12g of sugar, its new Grande-sized Chocolate Java Mint Frappuccino Blended Beverage has 69g — the equivalent to over 17 teaspoons or two cans of Coke.

Dunkin's large Frozen Coffee with Butter Pecan Swirl, meanwhile, contains 185 grams of sugar, or around 46 teaspoons, which is five cans of Coke and almost four times the recommended daily allowance.

These products are meant to be consumed occasionally and if someone were to have them every day, it could increase their risk of health conditions such as diabetes, Lorraine Kearney, a certified dietitian-nutritionist based in New York, told Insider.

"We don't want a diet that's too high in sugar, but we can include it in our diet," Kearney said. To reduce your sugar intake while still indulging in the occasional sugary summer drink, she suggested requesting only one pump of syrup, or getting a smaller size to decrease the amount of sugar you are having.

Insider compiled a list of the sugar content from popular coffee brands to help you make an informed choice when treating yourself this summer.

To create this list, Insider looked at classic frozen coffees — such as lattes and cappuccinos — flavored cold brews, and brand-specific specialty drinks, such as Starbucks' Frappuccino and Tim Horton's Iced Capps. We featured the standard version of products that were available on the brand's website at the time of writing.

We didn't include drinks that contained what would widely be considered a reasonable amount of sugar to put in a regular coffee, at around one to two teaspoons. As such, not all iced drinks available were included and the brands do offer lower sugar options, such as iced lattes with no syrup.

A spokesperson for Peet's Coffee said: "Some coffee drinkers like sweeter drinks — so we do offer a selection (and the sweetness profile is similar to other coffee shops). But we also encourage Peet's customers to customize their drinks — and when ordering in person or via our app, customers can ask for sugar-free vanilla syrup, modify their milk choice, and specify if they would prefer no syrup, or light, regular, or extra syrup."

Starbucks, Dunkin, McDonald's, Tim Hortons, and Panera did not provide a comment when contacted by Insider.

Starbucks

A Starbucks Frappuccino with whipped cream on top. Starbucks

Drink Name	Size	Sugar (g)	No. of teaspoons of sugar	Equivalent sugar content to no. of cans of Coke
Espresso Frappuccino Blended Beverage	Medium (Grande)	42	10.5	1.2
Espresso Frappuccino Blended Beverage	Large (Venti)	56	14	1.6
Chocolate Java Mint Frappuccino Blended Beverage	Medium	69	17.25	2
Chocolate Java Mint Frappuccino Blended Beverage	Large	87	21.75	2.5
Java Chip Frappuccino Blended Beverage	Medium	59	14.75	1.7
Java Chip Frappuccino Blended Beverage	Large	79	19.75	2.3
Mocha Cookie Crumble Frappuccino	Medium	55	13.75	1.6
Mocha Cookie Crumble Frappuccino	Large	75	18.75	2.1
Caramel Ribbon Crunch Frappuccino Blended Beverage	Medium	60	15	1.7
Caramel Ribbon Crunch Frappuccino Blended Beverage	Large	78	19.5	2.2
Caffè Vanilla Frappuccino Blended Beverage	Medium	63	15.75	1.8
Caffè Vanilla Frappuccino Blended Beverage	Large	83	20.75	2.4
Caramel Frappuccino Blended Beverage	Medium	54	13.5	1.5
Caramel Frappuccino Blended Beverage	Large	72	18	2
Coffee Frappuccino Blended Beverage	Medium	45	11.25	1.3
Coffee Frappuccino Blended Beverage	Large	59	14.75	1.7
Mocha Frappuccino Blended Beverage	Medium	51	12.75	1.5
Mocha Frappuccino Blended Beverage	Large	67	16.75	1.9
White Chocolate Mocha Frappuccino Blended Beverage	Medium	61	15.25	1.7
White Chocolate Mocha Frappuccino Blended Beverage	Large	76	19	2.2
White Chocolate Macadamia Cream Cold Brew	Medium	30	7.5	0.85
White Chocolate Macadamia Cream Cold Brew	Large	37	9.25	1.05

Dunkin

Dunkin employee hands over an iced coffee. Getty Images

Drink Name	Size	Sugar (g)	No. of teaspoons of sugar	Equivalent sugar content to no. of cans of Coke
Iced Signature Latte with Caramel Craze flavor	Medium	57	14.25	1.6
Iced Signature Latte with Caramel Craze flavor	Large	74	18.5	2.1
Iced Signature Latte with Cocoa Mocha flavor	Medium	52	13	1.5
Iced Signature Latte with Cocoa Mocha flavor	Large	68	17	1.9
Frozen Coffee	Medium	84	21	2.4
Frozen Coffee	Large	111	27.75	3.1
Frozen Coffee with Caramel Swirl flavor	Medium	134	33.5	3.8
Frozen Coffee with Caramel Swirl flavor	Large	175	43.75	5
Frozen Coffee with Butter Pecan swirl	Medium	142	35.5	4
Frozen Coffee with Butter Pecan swirl	Large	185	46.25	5.3
Frozen Coffee with French Vanilla swirl	Medium	132	33	3.8
Frozen Coffee with French Vanilla swirl	Large	173	43.25	4.9

McDonald's

McDonald's Caramel Frappé. McDonald's

Drink Name	Size	Sugar (g)	No. of teaspoons of sugar	Equivalent sugar content to no. of cans of Coke
Iced Caramel Macchiato	Medium	35	8.75	1
Iced Caramel Macchiato	Large	51	12.75	1.45
Caramel Frappé	Medium	62	15.5	1.8
Caramel Frappé	Large	84	21	2.4
Mocha Frappé	Medium	60	15	1.7
Mocha Frappé	Large	81	20.25	2.3
Iced Mocha	Medium	43	10.75	1.2
Iced Mocha	Large	62	15.5	1.8
Iced Coffee	Medium	25	6.25	0.7
Iced Coffee	Large	42	10.5	1.2
Iced Caramel Coffee	Medium	26	6.5	0.7
Iced Caramel Coffee	Large	39	9.75	1.1
Iced French Vanilla Coffee	Medium	22	5.5	0.6
Iced French Vanilla Coffee	Large	33	8.25	0.9
Iced Latte	Medium	9	2.25	0.25
Iced Latte	Large	12	3	0.3
Iced Caramel Latte	Medium	32	8	0.9
Iced Caramel Latte	Large	48	12	1.4
Iced French Vanilla Latte	Medium	28	7	0.8
Iced French Vanilla Latte	Large	42	10.5	1.12

Tim Hortons

Tim Hortons frozen coffee drink. Getty Images

Drink Name	Size	Sugar (g)	No. of teaspoons of sugar	Equivalent sugar content to no. of cans of Coke
Iced Coffee (classic)	Medium	23.6	6	0.67
Iced Coffee (classic)	Large	29.5	7.4	0.8
Iced Latte	Medium	11.3	2.8	0.3
Iced Latte	Large	13.5	3.4	0.4
Caramel Iced Latte	Medium	30.4	7.6	0.9
Caramel Iced Latte	Large	40.9	10.2	1.2
Vanilla Iced Latte	Medium	28.3	7.1	0.8
Vanilla Iced Latte	Large	36.2	9	1
White Chocolate Macadamia Iced Latte	Medium	52	13	1.5
White Chocolate Macadamia Iced Latte	Large	67	16.75	1.9
Vanilla Cream Cold Brew	Medium	26.2	6.6	0.7
Vanilla Cream Cold Brew	Large	33.3	8.3	0.95
Caramel Cream Cold Brew with Cold Foam	Medium	57.1	14.3	1.6
Caramel Cream Cold Brew with Cold Foam	Large	69.4	17.35	2
White Chocolate Macadamia Cream Cold Brew with Cold Foam	Medium	71	17.75	2
White Chocolate Macadamia Cream Cold Brew with Cold Foam	Large	88	22	2.5
Iced Capp	Medium	28.6	7.15	0.8
Iced Capp	Large	38.6	9.65	1.1
Caramel Iced Capp	Medium	136.2	34	3.9
Caramel Iced Capp	Large	173.9	43.5	5
Mocha Iced Capp	Medium	52	13	1.5
Mocha Iced Capp	Large	66.8	16.7	1.9
Oreo Iced Capp	Medium	69	17.25	2
Oreo Iced Capp	Large	89	22.25	2.5
Creamy Coconut Iced Capp	Medium	67	16.75	1.9
Creamy Coconut Iced Capp	Large	86	21.5	2.5

Panera

A Panera Bread coffee stand. Getty Images

Drink Name	Size	Sugar (g)	No. of teaspoons of sugar	Equivalent sugar content to no. of cans of Coke
Frozen Caramel Cold Brew	One size	58	14.5	1.6
Frozen Chocolate Cold Brew	One size	59	14.75	1.69
Iced Caffe Latte	One size	14	3.5	0.4
Iced Caramel Latte	One size	45	11.25	1.29
Iced Madagascar Vanilla Latte	One size	34	8.5	1
Iced Chocolate Latte	One size	46	11.5	1.3

Peet's Coffee

A Peet's Coffee cup. Getty Images

Drink Name	Size	Sugar (g)	No. of teaspoons of sugar	Equivalent sugar content to no. of cans of Coke
The Black Tie	Medium	36	9	1.02
The Black Tie	Large	50	12.5	1.4
Cold Brew Oat Latte	Medium	23	5.75	0.7
Cold Brew Oat Latte	Large	31	7.75	0.9
Brown Sugar Cold Brew Oat Latte with Jelly	Medium	41	10.25	1.2
Brown Sugar Cold Brew Oat Latte with Jelly	Large	47	11.75	1.3
Iced Latte	Medium	9	2.25	0.25
Iced Latte	Large	15	3.75	0.4
Iced Vanilla Latte	Medium	35	8.75	1
Iced Vanilla Latte	Large	47	11.75	1.3
Mocha Frappé	Medium	65	16.25	1.85
Mocha Frappé	Large	88	22	2.5
Caramel Frappé	Medium	73	18.25	2
Caramel Frappé	Large	99	24.75	2.8

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