For a university lecture lunch, choose plain sparkling water if you want an unflavoured drink without sugar or sweeteners; choose a flavoured drink only after checking its sugars line and ingredients. “No added sugar” does not mean zero sugar or sweetener-free: Tesco lists sugars and sucralose in its Apple & Raspberry drink, while M&S lists sugars in its juice-containing Apple & Elderflower drink. Take an individual can or bottle for lunch, and bear in mind NHS advice to keep fizzy and fruit drinks to mealtimes rather than sipping them repeatedly between lectures.
If you want fizz or fruit flavour without added sugar, compare plain water, flavoured water with sweeteners and drinks containing fruit juice. Their front-of-pack claims do not tell you the same thing about sugars or ingredients.
A sugar-free claim alone will not settle your choice. Check the ingredients list as well as the nutrition panel when choosing a flavoured drink.
An individual can or bottle can go with a packed lunch. If you tend to sip a drink throughout the day, North Cheshire and Mersey NHS guidance on acids in fizzy drinks and fruit juices is also relevant to when you drink it.
Start with whether you want plain water or fruit flavour, then use the label to distinguish sugars, sweeteners and the amount in the container you will take to lunch.
Choose it when: You want fizz without fruit flavour, sugar or sweeteners.
Bear in mind: It will not give you the fruit flavour you may want with lunch.
Choose it when: You want fruit flavour but avoid both sugar and sweeteners; Tesco lists DASH Peach as meeting those conditions.
Bear in mind: A flavoured fizzy drink may contain acids, so consider when you will drink it as well as what is on its sugar label.
Choose it when: You accept sweeteners and want a flavoured no-added-sugar or sugar-free drink.
Bear in mind: Check the sugars line too: Tesco’s no-added-sugar Apple & Raspberry drink contains sugars as well as sucralose.
Choose it when: You want a fruit-juice-led drink and are comfortable with sugars from its ingredients.
Bear in mind: M&S describes its Apple & Elderflower drink as no added sugar, but also says it contains over 60% juice.
| Priority | What to check | Your needs |
|---|---|---|
| Sugars | Read “of which sugars” on the nutrition panel and check whether it is stated per 100 ml, per 100 g or per container. Compare that figure with the amount you intend to drink. | I want to know how much sugar is in my lunch drink, not just whether sugar was added. Tesco lists 1.0 g sugars per 500 ml for Apple & Raspberry; M&S lists 6.6 g per 100 g for Apple & Elderflower. |
| Sweeteners | Read the ingredients list alongside claims such as “sugar-free” or “no added sugar”. Look for the named sweeteners if avoiding them matters to you. | Fruit flavour appeals to me, but I would rather avoid sweeteners. Tesco lists DASH Peach as having no sugar and no sweeteners, whereas M&S says its sugar-free Lemon & Lime drink contains a sweetener. |
| Ingredients | Distinguish plain sparkling water from flavoured water and juice-containing sparkling drinks. Check the exact variant rather than relying on a range name. | I am happy with unflavoured water if it makes the choice simpler; otherwise, I want to know what supplies the flavour before choosing a drink. |
| Portion | Check the size of one can or bottle, whether it can be closed after opening, and how many containers are in the pack. | A single drink needs to fit alongside my lunch. I can take one 330 ml can or 500 ml bottle rather than carry an entire multipack. |
| Drinking time | Consider whether the fizzy or fruit drink is for lunch or for repeated sipping between lectures. North Cheshire and Mersey NHS advises keeping fizzy drinks and fruit juices to mealtimes because acids can damage enamel. | If I drink frequently between classes, I want to keep my lunch drink separate from what I sip throughout the day. |
Juice can contribute sugars to a drink without sugar being added. Tesco lists 1.0 g sugars per 500 ml for its Apple & Raspberry drink, while M&S lists 6.6 g per 100 g for Apple & Elderflower.
Check the “of which sugars” figure and its measurement basis before comparing the container you plan to drink.
M&S describes its Lemon & Lime sparkling water as sugar-free but says it contains a sweetener. Tesco’s no-added-sugar Apple & Raspberry drink contains sucralose.
If you avoid sweeteners, check the ingredients rather than relying on the sugar claim alone.
North Cheshire and Mersey NHS says acid in fizzy drinks and fruit juices can damage tooth enamel, regardless of whether the drink has added sugar.
Have the fizzy or fruit drink with lunch rather than repeatedly between meals; choose plain still water for frequent between-lecture drinking.
A multipack may contain convenient lunch-sized drinks, but the full pack is a different thing to carry. An opened large bottle also need not match the portion you intended for one lunch.
Check the size of each container and take one suitable can or bottle to campus.
These examples show why it is worth checking the exact drink: products within a flavoured range can differ in sugars, juice and sweeteners.
Tesco’s no-added-sugar Apple & Raspberry sparkling drink is a flavoured option sold as four 500 ml bottles.
Tesco lists DASH Peach sparkling water in four 330 ml cans as a fruit-flavoured choice.
The M&S examples illustrate two different flavoured routes: sugar-free Lemon & Lime with a sweetener, and no-added-sugar Apple & Elderflower with substantial fruit-juice content.
Perrier describes its plain carbonated mineral water as an unflavoured sparkling option.
Plain sparkling water is the relevant Highland Spring route when you want an unflavoured drink.
Tesco lists San Pellegrino plain sparkling natural mineral water, including a six-bottle 1 L multipack.
These options cover plain sparkling water and fruit-flavoured sparkling drinks. Check each variant’s sugars and ingredients if avoiding sugar or sweeteners is central to your choice; for a multipack, take an individual container to lunch.
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Take one 330 ml can from the pack for a fruit-flavoured lunch drink. Check the Raspberry variant’s sugars and ingredients against your requirements rather than applying claims about a different DASH flavour to it.
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Choose this plain sparkling-water format if you would rather skip fruit flavour. Take one 0.5 L bottle for lunch instead of carrying the six-bottle pack, and check the bottle label for the exact variant’s details.
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A 500 ml bottle provides an individual portion to take from this eight-bottle pack. This is a plain sparkling-water choice rather than a fruit-flavoured lunch drink; check the bottle label if a particular nutrition detail matters to you.
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Take one 330 ml can when you want plain sparkling water with lunch. The full 24-can pack is for keeping separately rather than carrying between lectures; check the can label for details of this variant.
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One 330 ml bottle is a lunch-sized way to try a lychee-flavoured sparkling drink. If you require confirmed zero sugar or avoid sweeteners, read this variant’s nutrition panel and ingredients before choosing it.
No. Sugars can come from ingredients such as fruit juice. Tesco lists 1.0 g sugars per 500 ml in its no-added-sugar Apple & Raspberry drink, while M&S lists 6.6 g per 100 g in Apple & Elderflower. Read the “of which sugars” line and check whether the figure is per 100 ml, per 100 g or per container.
Yes. M&S describes its Lemon & Lime sparkling water as sugar-free but says it contains a sweetener. If you want to avoid both sugar and sweeteners, check the ingredients of the exact flavour as well as its nutrition panel.
Choose an individual can or bottle containing the amount you expect to drink with lunch. Examples in the product ranges discussed here include 330 ml cans and 500 ml bottles; a multipack can stay at home while you carry one container.
The absence of added sugar does not remove the consideration of acidity. North Cheshire and Mersey NHS guidance says acid in fizzy drinks and fruit juices can damage enamel and advises keeping them to mealtimes. Have the fizzy drink with lunch rather than sipping it repeatedly between meals.