Health campaigners are warning about drinks’ sugar content as an estimated 17.5 million Brits are shunning booze this month
13:45, 17 Jan 2026
Dry January drinkers may knock back tipples with as much sugar as two-and-a-half KitKat bars.
We discovered 500ml bottles of Kopparberg Strawberry and Lime Alcohol Free contain the equivalent of 12.6 teaspoons of sugar. A 41.5g KitKat bar has five teaspoons. A 100ml glass of pop legend Kylie Minogue’s Alcohol-Free Sparkling Rose gives a drinker 1.25 teaspoons of sugar.
Health campaigners are warning about drinks’ sugar content as an estimated 17.5 million Brits are shunning booze this month. The NHS’s recommended adult sugar limit is about seven teaspoons a day. Cans of Thatchers Zero Cider (440ml) contain the equivalent of six teaspoons of sugar and Inch’s 0.0% Alcohol Free Apple Cider 6.5 teaspoons per 440ml.
Sonia Pombo, of Action on Salt and Sugar, said: “Swapping alcohol for excessive sugar is not a health win, and the rise of these drinks’ risks undermining public health efforts and confusing consumers who are trying to make better choices.”
Paul Evans, nutritionist and host of the podcast No Forking Nonsense, said: “A single bottle of alcohol-free Kopparberg contains over 12 teaspoons of sugar – that’s nearly double the daily limit.
“Many of these booze-free drinks are basically liquid sugar. For a lot of people they’ll drive cravings, energy crashes and weight gain far more reliably than the odd alcoholic beverage ever would.”
National Obesity Forum’s Tam Fry said: “In the short-term you might think that the low alcohol is what the doctor ordered but the sugar will inevitably get to you in the end.”
All the manufacturers were contacted for comment.