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(Image: SWNS)

Shocking research has laid bare the amount of sugar in Britain's favourite hot drinks.

The alarming study shows how one beverage sold by Starbucks is loaded with a staggering 25 teaspoons of sugar.

That's the equivalent of 21 chocolate digestive biscuits, three Snickers bars or almost four slices of chocolate fudge cake.

The venti grape with chai, orange and cinnamon hot mulled fruit had nearly the same sugar content as three cans of Coke, researchers discovered in tests.

Scroll down for a full list of how much sugar is in your favourite hot drink

Sugar in hot drinks sold by chains

The drink with the second highest sugar content was Costa’s massimo eat-in chai latte, with 20 teaspoons, followed by Starbucks’ venti white chocolate mocha with 18.

KFC’s mocha and Starbucks’ signature hot chocolate both contained 15 teaspoons, while Caffe Nero’s drink-in caramelatte had 13.

Campaigners analysed 131 drinks sold by the UK’s leading coffee and fast food chains and found 98% would come with a red nutrition warning label for sugar content.

And a third had at least the same amount as Coca Cola, which has nine teaspoons a can.

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Action on Sugar chairman Professor Graham MacGregor said: “This is yet again another example of a scandalous amount of sugar added to our food and drink.

“No wonder we have the highest rates of obesity in Europe.

"David Cameron now has all the evidence to make the UK the first country in the world to stop the obesity and type 2 diabetes epidemic.”

(Image: Joe Newman / SWNS.)

Starbucks said: “Earlier this year we committed to reduce added sugar in our indulgent drinks by 25% by the end of 2020.

“We also offer a wide variety of lighter options, sugar-free syrups and sugar-free natural sweetener and display all nutritional information in-store and online.”

(Image: Joe Newman / SWNS.)

Costa’s Kerry Parkin added: “Costa takes the nutritional balance of our food and drink very seriously and we have already taken significant steps to reduce the sugar content of our ranges.

"We intend to continue improving the balance of our product offerings while maintaining the high quality and great taste our customers expect.

"This April we will be setting salt and sugar reduction targets for 2020.”

Revealed: How much sugar is in your favourite hot drink?

Café Drink Sugars per serving (g) Teaspoons of sugar per serving

Starbucks Hot Mulled Fruit - Grape with Chai, Orange and Cinnamon Venti 99.0 25

Starbucks Hot Mulled Fruit - Apple with Chai, Dried Apple and Cinnamon Venti 88.0 22

Costa Coffee Chai Latte Massimo - Eat In 79.7 20

Starbucks Hot Mulled Fruit - Grape with Chai, Orange and Cinnamon Grande 76.0 19

Starbucks White Chocolate Mocha with Whipped Cream Venti 73.8 18

Starbucks Hot Mulled Fruit - Apple with Chai, Dried Apple and Cinnamon Grande 69.0 17

Starbucks Signature Hot Chocolate Venti 60.0 15

Starbucks White Chocolate Mocha with Whipped Cream Grande 59.1 15

KFC Mocha 58.8 15

Costa Coffee Mocha Latte Massimo - Eat Out 57.5 14

Costa Coffee Mocha Latte Massimo - Eat In 56.3 14

KFC Hot Chocolate with cream 54.3 14

Costa Coffee Hot Chocolate Massimo - Eat Out 54.0 14

Costa Coffee Hot Chocolate Massimo - Eat In 53.1 13

Costa Coffee Mocha Massimo - Eat Out 52.6 13

Starbucks Chai Tea Latte Venti 52.0 13

Starbucks Hot Mulled Fruit - Grape with Chai, Orange and Cinnamon Tall 52.0 13

Costa Coffee Mocha Massimo - Eat In 51.7 13

Caffe Nero Caramelatte - Drink In 50.6 13

Costa Coffee Chai Latte Medio - Eat In 49.3 12

Starbucks Signature Hot Chocolate Grande 47.4 12

Starbucks Hot Mulled Fruit - Apple with Chai, Dried Apple and Cinnamon Tall 47.0 12

Eat Matcha Latte Big 45.2 11

KFC Mocha 45.1 11

Greggs Mocha Large 45.0 11

Starbucks White Chocolate Mocha with Whipped Cream Tall 44.4 11

Starbucks Mocha with Whipped Cream Venti 43.2 11

McDonald's Mocha Large 43.0 11

Eat Chai Latte Big 42.8 11

Pret a Manger Orange Spiced Hot Chocolate 42.2 11

Starbucks Caramel Macchiatto Venti 42.1 11

KFC Hot Chocolate with cream 42.0 11

Starbucks Classic Hot Chocolate Venti 41.8 10

Starbucks Chai Tea Latte Grande 41.5 10

Caffe Nero Hot Chocolate with Whipped Cream - Drink In 41.0 10

Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte with Whip Venti 39.2 10

McDonald's Mocha Medium 38.0 10