Caffeine and Sugar in Drinks: A Quick Comparison

Two things add up fast in drinks: caffeine and sugar. Both are easy to miss, because a drink does not feel as filling as food. This guide puts common drinks in one table so you can compare them, and then says what official bodies advise. The numbers come from USDA FoodData Central entries for specific products, so they are examples, not promises for every brand or every cup. [1] [5] [10]

Read this first

• Caffeine is the same molecule in every drink, but the amount varies a lot. FDA lists 113 to 247 mg in a 12-ounce regular brewed coffee, 41 to 246 mg in an energy drink, 71 mg in black tea and 23 to 83 mg in a caffeinated soft drink. [10]
• FDA cites about 400 mg of caffeine a day as an amount not generally linked with negative effects for most healthy adults. Sensitivity varies. The Dietary Guidelines for Americans repeat this figure. [10] [13]
• For added sugar, the Dietary Guidelines say less than 10 percent of calories a day starting at age 2, and avoiding added sugars before age 2. The WHO says free sugars should stay under 10 percent of daily energy, and 5 percent or less may bring more benefit. [13] [14]
• Pregnancy and children: the NHS says no more than 200 mg of caffeine a day in pregnancy, Health Canada says 300 mg, and the Dietary Guidelines say to avoid caffeinated drinks for children under 2. [11] [12] [13]
• Honest summary: the sugar in a drink counts toward calories and added sugar. Caffeine has real, short-term effects (heart rate, sleep, jitters). Neither number tells you if a drink is "good" or "bad" on its own; the pattern over a day matters.

What is in a typical serving (USDA values)

Each row is one USDA entry, with the USDA household portion in the second column. Calories, sugar and caffeine for the serving are the per-100-g USDA values multiplied by the serving weight in grams. [1] to [9]

Notes on the table:

• Serving sizes differ on purpose: they are the sizes USDA lists. A 16-ounce coffee or a 20-ounce soda has more.


• The energy drink caffeine values here (75 to 79 mg per serving) are lower than the top of FDA's range (246 mg per 12 ounces) because FDA's range covers many products and the USDA items are single products. [3] [4] [10]


• USDA lists no sugars figure for the pepper-type soda, so we show carbohydrate instead. [5]


• Orange juice and milk have sugar that comes with the fruit or milk. Orange juice also carries vitamin C: the USDA value is 33.6 mg per 100 g, about 84 mg a cup, which is roughly 93 percent of the FDA Daily Value of 90 mg. [8] The Dietary Guidelines list 100% juice as an acceptable drink for children "within recommended amounts," and the NHS suggests keeping juice and smoothies to one small 150 ml glass a day because of the sugar. [13] [18]


• Brewed coffee numbers vary with the beans and the brew. Health Canada lists 135 mg for an 8-ounce brewed cup and 179 mg for filter drip, and 3 mg for decaf. [12]

Caffeine: what official bodies say

These are information from official bodies, not personal advice. The numbers differ between countries, and the sources do not say why in the pages we read.

FDA lists the effects of too much caffeine as a faster heart rate, palpitations, high blood pressure, sleep trouble, anxiety, jitters, upset stomach, nausea and headache. It also warns that pure caffeine powder is far more dangerous than a drink: seizures can follow after about 1,200 mg, less than half a teaspoon. [10] For caffeine pills and powders see Caffeine supplements.

Sugar: what official bodies and research say

• Where drinks fit. The Dietary Guidelines say that sugar-sweetened beverages (regular soda, fruit drinks, sports and energy drinks) and sweetened coffees and teas supply over 40 percent of the added sugars adults take in. [13] CDC reports that in surveys from 2011 to 2014, 49 percent of US adults and 63 percent of youth drank a sugar-sweetened beverage on a given day, taking in about 145 and 413 calories from them, respectively. [16]
• Weight. A systematic review and meta-analysis (Malik 2013, supported by NIH grants) found that in cohort studies each extra daily serving of sugar-sweetened drinks went with a small extra weight gain in adults (0.22 kg over one year) and a small BMI rise in children. In adult trials, adding these drinks raised body weight by 0.85 kg. [17] Cohort findings are associations, not proof; the trials point the same way.
• CDC lists weight gain, obesity, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, fatty liver disease, tooth decay and gout among health problems linked with frequent sugar-sweetened drink intake. We read the CDC summary, not each underlying study. [16]
• Sweetened coffee and tea count too. A black coffee has no sugar in the USDA entry, but flavored syrups and sugar added at the counter are not in that number. [1] [13]

What about diet drinks?

The low-calorie cola in the table has no calories and no sugar in the USDA entry. [6] In 2023 the WHO issued a conditional recommendation against using non-sugar sweeteners to control body weight or reduce the risk of noncommunicable diseases. It said its review found no long-term benefit for body fat in adults or children, and suggested possible long-term harms (type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, mortality) that may be confounded. The recommendation does not apply to people who already have diabetes. [15] The WHO also says to cut free sugars without reaching for non-sugar sweeteners. [14] See Soda and diet soda for more.

A simple way to read the table

• If you want to limit caffeine, compare the caffeine column first; decaf coffee has about 1 mg per 100 g in USDA data, compared with 40 mg for regular brewed coffee. [1] [2]
• If you want to limit added sugar, compare the sugar column; plain brewed coffee has no sugars in the USDA entry. [1]
• If both matter, remember that energy drinks and sweetened coffee drinks bring both at once. [3] [13]
• Check the label on the actual product; amounts vary by brand and size, and Health Canada notes that food labels may list caffeine. [12]

Related pages

• Caffeine in foods and drinks: official limits
• Energy drinks
• Decaf coffee
• Soda and diet soda
• Sports and electrolyte drinks
• Added sugars, sodium and saturated fat on labels