Starbucks Corporation’s cappuccinos contain less caffeine than a traditional teabag and is nearly five times weaker than Costa’s coffee, research from Which? found.
Costa coffee, owned by beverage giant Coca-Cola, was found to contain 325mg of caffeine in its strongest medium cappuccino, dwarfing Starbucks’ 66mg.
The amount of caffeine in a standard teabag is 75mg.
Greggs and Pret a Manger also ranked lower than the Dunstable-based coffee chain with 197mg and 180mg of the drug going into its cappuccinos respectively.
The US coffeehouse’s single espresso is also weaker than competitors providing only 33mg of the stimulant compared to Pret a Mangers' 180mg.
Caffe Nero ranked poorly too, its cappuccino contains up to 115mg of caffeine and its espressos 45mg.
“If you drink a lot of coffee or need to limit your caffeine intake you might want to consider what you’re ordering and where from,” said Shefalee Loth from Which?
Starbucks did not respond when asked to comment on the reports.
Seattle-based Starbucks is set to update investors on its first-quarter earnings tonight.
Shares were trading at US$108.85, down 0.3% in pre-market trading.