Instead of an aromatic, freshly scalded coffee, fans of this drink sometimes go to the cold variant of the supermarket. They open the aluminum lid and drink directly from the plastic cup. But what is hidden in this caffeine shot? And what do you need for good coffee? Water, coffee powder and, depending on your preference, a little sugar and maybe milk or a vegetable drink? However, the list of coffee ingredients that come from a refrigerated supermarket shelf is sometimes much more extensive, according to the consumer headquarters in Bremen, Germany. Anyone who looks closely at the ingredients of cold coffee varieties will very often be surprised. In addition to coffee, milk and sugar, they often contain thickeners, flavors, stabilizers, emulsifiers and acidity regulators. These are all ingredients that hardly anyone would have missed in homemade coffee, says Annabel Dierks, a nutrition expert at the Bremen consumer center. Because, as he explains, for many people, the fewer additives, the better. Up to seven cubes of sugar in a cup Also the high sugar content makes some coffees very caloric: there can be around 20 grams of sugar in a cup. This amount is equivalent to almost seven cubes of sugar or five teaspoons. Sugar not only comes from milk or vegetable drink, but is added, emphasizes Dierks. And it makes the following calculation: the World Health Organization (WHO) recommends a maximum of 25 to 50 grams of sugar daily. If coffee is accompanied with a biscuit or a croissant with chocolate, this amount has surely been reached. The expert indicates that there are several examples that show that cold coffee specialties can also be prepared without additives and with less sugar, so it is worth comparing at the time of purchase. dpa