A recent study has found that there is three times as much caffeine in Costa cappuccinos than in Starbucks.
UK consumer champion Which? recently conducted a study on the caffeine content in drinks sold by chains Caffe Nero, Costa Coffee, Greggs, Pret A Manger and Starbucks.
The research found that our caffeine intake varies significantly based on where we buy our coffee.
It has been confirmed in the study that a medium cappuccino from Costa contains 325 mg, which is compared to the 89mg that is in the same drink in Starbucks.
Which? found that drinking a cappuccino from Costa is the same as drinking around four cans of Red Bull.
Greggs and Cafe Nero take the second and third spot with 235mg and 221mg found in their medium cappuccinos.
The study found that Starbucks serves the least amount of caffeine in its drinks.
James Hoffmann, coffee expert and winner of the World Barista Championship in 2007 spoke to The Guardian about the lack of awareness consumers have on their caffeine intake.
“I think coffee is still functionally about caffeine and I feel like for the world’s most popular psychoactive drug, most people have no idea how much they’re taking. I’m not sure that’s a good thing for any sort of supplement that you might want to use," Hoffmann said.
Which? said via RTE that its research highlighted that consumers need to pay attention to the significant difference in caffeine levels across coffee supply chains.
Jessica Carson, its health and wellbeing expert, told RTE that even matcha drinkers could be consuming more caffeine than they think.
"Our research shows caffeine content varies wildly from chain to chain. If you drink multiple cups a day or need to cut back for health reasons, pay attention to where you shop and what you order to avoid any unwanted side-effects," Carson added.
