... AND HOW THE MILK ALTERNATIVES COMPARE

SOY MILK LATTE TALL 355ml, £2.85

Calories 119 Saturated fat 0.2g Sugars 8.2g Protein 8.7g OPTING for soy milk over semi-skimmed cow’s milk means that you are consuming 8.2g or two teaspoons of ‘free’ sugar per latte – that’s more than a quarter of the recommended limit of unhealthy sugars linked with tooth decay and obesity.

It won’t save you many calories either: only 24. On the plus side, it is fortified with B-vitamins, calcium and iodine, making it equivalent to cow’s milk in these nutrients. It also has added Vitamin D, essential for absorbing calcium and for strong bones.

ALMOND MILK LATTE TALL 355ml, £3.25

Calories 74 Saturated fat 0.3g Sugars 6.6g Protein 2.1g WHILE this is the skinniest of all Starbucks’ lattes, it contains only a fifth of the protein in cow’s milk, meaning it’s unlikely to be appetite-curbing. An extra one-and-a-half teaspoons of added sugar come courtesy of Starbucks’ sweetened almond milk, equating to over a fifth of your daily free sugars recommendation. It’s fortified with calcium, but not iodine or B12 – crucial for optimum brain function and digestion – which vegans can struggle to obtain.

OAT MILK LATTE TALL 355ml, £3.25

Calories 212 Saturated fat 4.3g Sugars 17.8g Protein 3.4g ONE to avoid if you’re weightwatching, it contains an extra 69 calories and more saturated fat than semi-skimmed choices, probably due to the extra fats such as rapeseed oil.

Contributing to the calorie increase is a whopping 17.8g of sugar provided by the oat milk – half of what you find in a can of Coke – which makes up 59 per cent of your daily free sugars total.

The lack of added calcium and Vitamin B12 means that cow’s milk is far superior.

On the plus side, there’s an impressive 5.3g of fibre in the oat milk, more than a sixth of the recommended daily intake of 30g, including beta glucan – a type of fibre that helps to lower cholesterol.

COCONUT MILK LATTE TALL 355ml, £3.25

Calories 119 Saturated fat 7.2g Sugars 8.2g Protein 1.3g THE coconut milk option is less calorific but provides almost 90 per cent less protein than the dairy version, increasing hunger pangs. It is also devoid of the calcium and B12 in cow’s milk, and is 5g higher in saturated fat, linked with high cholesterol and heart disease.

This is typical of many coconut extracts, such as oil and cream, as they have a higher percentage of saturated fat than butter and lard.

This latte delivers more than a third of the daily 20g recommended daily limit of saturated fat and a quarter of your daily limit of free sugars.