HIGH street coffee chains offer huge differences in the amount of caffeine they serve – with one brew found to be five times stronger than a cup from a rival.
A £3.35 medium cappuccino at Costa contains a 325mg of caffeine – around the amount contained in four cups of tea.
This is almost five times the strength of a £4.45 cappuccino from Starbucks, which contains the least at 66mg, tests by Which? found.
Cappuccinos from Greggs and Pret a Manger also contain significantly less caffeine than Costa, at 197mg and 180mg respectively.
Greggs charges £2.35 for a regular cappuccino and £2.85 for a large. A cappuccino is £3.55 at Pret a Manger.
By comparison, a 250ml can of Red Bull contains 80mg of caffeine.
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A £2.70 single espresso from Pret a Manger contains 180mg of caffeine – six times as much as a £2.95 one from Starbucks which had a just 33mg by comparison.
Pret a Manger’s £1.60 filter coffee also contained the most caffeine at 271mg, two and a half times as much as the Starbucks version, which contained 102mg.
Greggs was a close second to Pret for its caffeine levels, containing 225mg in a £1.40 cup of filter coffee.
Caffè Nero had the second lowest levels of caffeine after Starbucks in both its cappuccinos – containing between 110mg and 115mg – and its espresso, with 45mg.
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The chain charges between £3.45 for a regular cappuccino and £3.85 for a large, while an espresso is priced at around £2.
The variations are not only due to the number of caffeine shots used across the chains but also the type of coffee bean.
Arabica beans contain around half the caffeine of Robusta beans, and there are also variations in taste between the two.
Which? nutritionist Shefalee Loth said: “Many of us rely on coffee to get us through the dark winter mornings, but our research shows you may be consuming significantly more, or less, caffeine than you bargained for.
“Our analysis has shown that there are big variations in caffeine content between drinks from different high-street coffee shops.
“Most of the time this shouldn’t be an issue but if you drink a lot of coffee or need to limit your caffeine intake you might want to consider what you’re ordering and where from.”
A Costa Coffee spokeswoman said: “The amount of caffeine included within each coffee varies, depending on both the coffee and size of drink ordered by a customer.
“All caffeine information is available both in our store or via our website."
Pret a Manger declined to comment.
The Sun has contacted Starbucks, Greggs and Caffè Nero for comment.
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