Costa Coffee cappuccino has four times the amount of caffeine as a Red Bull

01 February 2023 , 00:01

535     0

Which? has found the caffeine in a Costa cappuccino is four times that of a can of Red Bull (Image: Bloomberg via Getty Images)

A high street coffee had four times the amount of caffeine compared to a can of Red Bull, tests have revealed.

Consumer group Which? found a medium cappuccino at Costa contained 325mg of caffeine. By comparison, a 250ml can of Red Bull has 80mg.

Costa packed the biggest caffeine punch among popular chains, with the equivalent of four cups of tea.

At the other end of the scale, a ­Starbucks cappuccino had the lowest caffeine content, with at least 66mg, which means Costa had nearly five times that amount when tested.

Which? looked at the caffeine found in espresso, cappuccino and filter coffee drinks from Caffè Nero, Costa, Greggs, Starbucks, Pret a Manger and Starbucks.

Greggs, Costa & Pret coffees have 'huge differences in caffeine', says report

The second and third-highest ­cappuccino caffeine levels, Greggs and Pret a Manger, were significantly below Costa, at 197mg and 180mg respectively.

Costa coffee has the most caffeine of any of the high street brands (Getty Images)

A Starbucks single espresso also had the lowest caffeine content, at 33mg.

The same drink at sandwich chain Pret had 180mg, almost six times more.

A Starbucks filter coffee was also found to have less than half the caffeine, 102mg, as in those from Pret and Greggs.

A 250ml can of Red Bull has 80mg of caffeine (Getty Images)

Shefalee Loth, Which? nutritionist, said: “Many of us rely on coffee to get us through 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 caffeine, you might want to consider what you’re ordering and where from.”

A Costa Coffee spokesman said: “The amount of caffeine included within each coffee varies, depending on the coffee and size of drink.

“All Costa coffees can be enjoyed with decaf coffee and we offer a wide range of non-caffeinated drinks.”

The cappuccinos tested by Which? were all medium and between 341ml at Greggs, and 362ml at Costa.

Silent 'health risk' of coffees that 'can have more sugar than a Mars bar'

Graham Hiscott