ShortList is supported by you, our amazing readers. When you click through the links on our site and make a purchase we may earn a commission. Learn more

How much sugar is really in your favourite soft drink?

How much sugar is really in your favourite soft drink?

How much sugar is really in your favourite soft drink?
10 August 2015

How much weight did I put on during that beach break? What score is the England vs Spain game? Does Vladimir Putin secretly want a hug?

Some questions, as you might well agree, are better off left unanswered.

Normally we’d say the same of how much sugar is lurking in our favourite cans of pop. But then we chanced upon the work of food artist Henry Hargreaves, whose latest work imaginatively (and scientifically) borrows the use of lollipops to reveal the extent of the sugar amounts our favourite drinks are piled with.

“I decided to do an experiment to show what's in soft drinks after the water is boiled away, he tells us. — “in other words, dehydrating the hydrator”. Once boiled, Hargreaves took the remaining gloop from each drink, poured it into the lollipop moulds featuring the names of the respective drink, before adding a stick to complete the look, putting into perspective the sort of teeth-rotting mess we consume without ever truly realising.

Unsurprisingly, it's a lot, and have to be a monster to ever drink a can of Monster again. Take a look at the gallery below to browse through the best of them.

It’s certainly food for thought. Sweet, sweet, sugar-covered food for thought.

Henryhargreaves.com

Vitamin Water

33 grams of sugar


Coca Cola

39 grams of sugar


Monster

52 grams of sugar


Mountain Dew

77 grams of sugar


Powerade

 37.5 grams of sugar


Snapple

46 grams of sugar