How much caffeine is in a fast food soda?

A medium fountain cola carries roughly 55 mg of caffeine and a large around 85 mg. That's modest next to coffee: a medium fast food hot coffee sits around 180 mg, and a medium iced coffee around 200 mg. The FDA cites 400 mg a day as a level generally not associated with negative effects for healthy adults.

How much sugar is in a fast food drink?

A medium fountain soda carries roughly 58 grams of added sugar and a large around 82 grams — more than the roughly 50 grams the WHO suggests as a daily ceiling, in a single cup. Sweet tea, lemonade, shakes and blended coffees are in the same range or higher.

Which fast food drink has the most caffeine?

Among typical fast food orders, iced and hot coffees lead at roughly 180 to 200 mg for a medium, followed by energy drinks around 160 mg per can. Sodas and sweet tea are far lower, at roughly 55 to 85 mg per serving.

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What's in the cup?

The drink is where fast food hides its sugar, and sometimes more caffeine than you planned on. Build your usual drink order and see both against daily reference values.

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Tap + to add. Values are typical averages across major US chains, rounded.

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of the added sugar the WHO suggests for a whole day

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caffeine · FDA reference 400 mg

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of sugar a year, from drinks alone

What this is and isn't. Values are typical averages across major US chains, rounded; your exact drink may differ by chain, ice and recipe. The 400 mg caffeine figure is the FDA's reference for healthy adults, and less applies in pregnancy or with some conditions — this tool doesn't know your situation and isn't medical advice. Nothing is stored and nothing leaves your browser.

The easiest order to change is the cup

NOPE helps you quit the whole habit: it warns you near your usual spots and gets you through the craving. Free 3-day trial on iPhone.

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The sugar is in the cup, not on the tray

Ask people where the sugar in a fast food order lives and they'll point at the dessert. It's the drink. A medium fountain soda carries roughly 58 grams of added sugar — already past the ~50 grams the WHO suggests as a daily ceiling — and a large is around 82. Sweet tea, lemonade and blended coffee drinks sit in the same range, and a milkshake clears it comfortably. The rest of your order can be perfectly reasonable and the cup alone still blows through the day.

Caffeine: coffee is the heavyweight, not cola

The surprise runs the other way with caffeine. Sodas are relatively light — roughly 55 mg in a medium cola, 85 in a large — while fast food coffee is where the real numbers are: around 180 mg for a medium hot coffee and 200 mg for a medium iced. Stack a morning iced coffee on an afternoon large cola and an energy drink and you're brushing the FDA's 400 mg daily reference before dinner. Caffeine isn't the villain sugar is, but it's worth knowing when your "just a drink" order is doing the work of three coffees.

Why liquid sugar hits differently

Sugar you drink doesn't fill you up the way sugar you chew does — the fullness signals barely register, so the calories stack on top of whatever you eat rather than replacing any of it. That's why the drink is both the biggest problem and the easiest win in a fast food habit: swap the cup and nothing else, and you've removed more added sugar than almost any other single change. You can see how the drink fits into your whole order with the nutrition calculator, or what the habit costs you in money with the cost calculator.

And if the drink is the habit you can't drop?

For plenty of people the daily large soda or sweet tea run is the fast food habit — the food is incidental. The craving mechanics are the same either way: a cue, an urge that lasts a couple of minutes, and a decision. That's the moment NOPE is built for: it warns you near your usual spots, gets you through the urge, and turns every clean day into a streak. If you're wondering how hooked you actually are, the one-minute quiz will tell you.