If you’re partial to a high octane caffeine fix, you might get more than you bargained for if you opt for an energy drink.

Ireland’s all-island food safety and nutrition champion, safefood has taken a closer look at energy drinks on the market.

And the sugar content is bound to make the dieters amongst you gasp. Some of the drinks contain up to 16 teaspoons of sugar.

The researchers have produced an easy to read guide to the sugar and caffeine content in fourteen different energy drinks on the market.

A 500 ml bottle of Mountain Dew contains 16.5 teaspoons of sugar and the same amount of caffeine as an espresso. There are 14 teaspoons of sugar in a 500ml of Monster and the caffeine equivalent of two espressos.

We’re not big fans of energy drinks at Skinny Chips HQ. But we admit to downing the odd vodka and Red Bull in our younger (and yes) thinner years.

However the safefood crew insist the “energy drinks are not suitable as a mixer” with alcohol. They are also unsuitable for  children under sixteen years of age or for rehydration after sport.

Here is the complete guide to energy drinks created by safefood.

A reminder for our Weight Watchers out there. One teaspoon (5g) of sugar is one SmartPoint. For Slimming World devotees there is 1 syn in a level teaspoon of sugar.