Unhealthiest high street coffee chain breakfast pastries revealed (and they’re mostly from Pret or Starbucks)

We all know breakfast pastries aren’t exactly health food.

But a FEMAIL investigation has found that some sold by the UK’s biggest coffee chains may be more calorific than they need to be.

Depending on which coffee shop you buy it from, the same pastry can be 200 calories more than at other cafés.

We compared pastries at five of the UK’s leading coffee shop chains to see which sells the unhealthiest – and healthiest – versions.

ALMOND CROISSANT 

Starbucks tops the list for unhealthiest almond croissant (pictured), as it contains 525 calories

Starbucks tops the list for unhealthiest almond croissant, as its version contains 525 calories.

That’s 159 calories more than Pret A Manger’s, which comes second, and 212 more than Costa’s, which is ranked ‘healthiest’.

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Aside from Starbuck’s calorific offering, the other pastries are fairly similar in terms of calorie content.

But the ‘healthiest’ on the list – Costa’s – contains the second largest amount of sugar at 15.7g, though it has by far the lowest amount of fat at 12.9g.

Meanwhile, Greggs has the least sugary pastry on the list, with its croissant containing 8.6g.

See below for a full nutritional breakdown 

BUTTER CROISSANT 

Pret tops the list for unhealthiest butter croissant (pictured). Its 70g pastry contains 304 calories, and 17.3g of fat

Pret A Manger – commonly referred to as Pret – tops the list for unhealthiest butter croissant. Its 70g pastry contains 304 calories, and 17.3g of fat.

That’s 100 calories more than Caffè Nero’s 204-calorie butter croissant, which has 11.6g of fat and 6.5g of saturated fat.

It’s far and away the healthiest version of this classic pastry on our list. 

Greggs’ All Butter Croissant wasn’t too far behind Pret’s, coming in at 298 calories, with 16g of fat.

Starbucks’s 272-calorie Butter Croissant was mid-ranking – but the nutritional content varies according to its supplier, with another version containing 342 calories.

That would have rocketed Starbucks to the top of the list for unhealthiest pastry. 

See below for a full nutritional breakdown

PAIN AU CHOCOLAT  

Greggs tops the table for unhealthiest pain au chocolat, with its pastry (pictured) containing nearly 300 calories and 13g of sugar

Greggs tops the table for unhealthiest pain au chocolat, with its pastry containing nearly 300 calories and 13g of sugar.

But the pastries only have less than 20 calories between them, with very similar fat contents too.

Caffè Nero is ranked ‘healthiest’ for its pain au chocolat – but it’s only two calories less than Starbucks’.

Starbucks is ranked second, despite its pastry having one fewer calorie than Costa’s for its higher sugar and fat content. 

The menu on Costa’s website doesn’t include a pain au chocolat – but on its nutritional information sheet updated earlier this year, it lists two versions of the pastry that it sells.

We’ve only listed one for reasons of clarity, but the other version it sells has slightly fewer calories, containing 261 kcal. 

See below for a full nutritional breakdown 

OTHER CHOCOLATE PASTRIES

Pret tops the list again for unhealthiest chocolate pastry with its chocolate and hazelnut croissant (pictured)

Pret tops the list again for unhealthiest chocolate pastry with its chocolate and hazelnut croissant. 

The 86g pastry contains 279 calories and a whopping 20.7g of fat. 

But it contained less sugar than Costa’s 354-calorie chocolate twist, which has 22g. 

Meanwhile Caffè Nero again has the ‘healthiest’  pastry on the list, with its chocolate twist containing 320 calories, 18.7g of sugar, and 15.4g of fat.

Though Starbucks’ chocolate knot contains less calories and sugar than Costa’s chocolate twist, its pastry had more fat, containing 19.6g. 

See below for a full nutritional breakdown 

PAIN AU RAISIN 

Starbucks has the unhealthiest version of a pain au raisin (pictured), containing 270 calories and 19.5g of fat

Starbucks once again tops the list for having the unhealthiest version of this classic French pastry, containing 270 calories and 19.5g of fat.

It contained more than 100 calories more than Costa’s pain au raisin, which came in as ‘healthiest’ for containing far less sugar (14g) and fat (13.4g). 

But Pret’s pain au raisin was not too far behind, containing 361 calories and more sugar than Starbucks’, at 17.8g.

See below for a full nutritional breakdown 

HAM AND CHEESE CROISSANT 

Starbucks is at the top of the table again for its 497-calorie ham and cheese croissant (pictured)

Starbucks is at the top of the table again for its 497-calorie ham and cheese croissant, which contains nearly 200 calories more than Pret’s 298-calorie version – making it the first time in this study that the coffee chain has been ranked as having the ‘healthiest’ pastry.

Starbucks’ pastry also contains the most fat (23g) and saturated fat (15g).

But Costa’s croissant, which is ranked second most unhealthy, contains almost twice the amount of sugar as the others at 7.6g. 

See below for a full nutritional breakdown 

RESPONSES

Starbucks has said it will be bringing in new products, including a new almond croissant and pain au raisin, to reduce calorie content.

A Starbucks spokeswoman said: ‘As part of our commitment to health and wellness, we are actively reformulating some of our food range to reduce portion size and lower calorie content, including an almond croissant and pain au raisin, and we have a range of products being trialled in store. 

‘We also help our customers to make informed nutritional choices by displaying calories on our menu boards and food.’ 

Pret, Costa, Caffè Nero and Greggs have been contacted for comment.