Many Australians may unknowingly be consuming their entire daily sugar and saturated fat limits on their daily coffee run, as well as half of the suggested kilojoule intake, new research from Cancer Council NSW has revealed.

Cancer Council NSW assessed the nutritional content of 564 drinks and sweet treats sold at five popular coffee chains.

It found 54 per cent of cold beverages, such as iced coffee, contained more than half an adult's daily recommended sugar allowance in a single serving.

A large iced coffee at one particular chain contained 39 grams of saturated fat - 163 per cent of the daily limit.

"The standard flat white or the humble latte is certainly no problem," said Clare Hughes, Cancer Council NSW's nutrition programs manager and co-author of the study.

"It's when you throw in the chocolate slice or the banana bread on the side, or if you're upgrading to one of those creamy and sugary coffee or chocolate drinks - that's when you're getting up over half your daily kilojoule intake," she said.

Seemingly healthier options loaded with sugar and fat

"Many Australians may be shocked that the humble banana bread is not as innocuous as the name suggests," Ms Hughes said.

"One banana bread that we found contained 14 teaspoons of sugar and a whopping 2,570 kilojoules - that's more than 30 per cent of your daily kilojoule intake."

One coconut-chocolate slice had more than 4,000 kilojoules.

"So if we're thinking of these foods as just little, in-between snacks, or some of these drinks as a way of getting our coffee hits, they are coming with a lot more than the coffee that we're looking for," she said.

Ms Hughes said Cancer Council NSW is also calling on coffee chains to sell smaller, healthier portion sizes across their drink and snack range as eating these drinks and snacks on a regular basis may be having a significant impact on obesity rates.

"Food industries need to be coming to the party too ... reducing the sizes, and reducing the saturated fat and the sugar content too," she said.

"What we eat away from home really contributes to our daily intake, and with 63 per cent of Australian adults overweight or obese, it's more important than ever to have access to healthy options.

"If we can stabilise or decrease obesity levels in Australia, half a million lives could be saved by 2050.

"That would mean fewer cases of obesity-related cancers, such as bowel, endometrial and post-menopausal breast cancer; as well as heart disease and type 2 diabetes."