Canberran coffee lovers consuming more fat than they bargained for: study

Canberra coffee lovers opting for a skinny latte are consuming more fat than they had bargained for, with new data suggesting most ACT cafes do not use skim milk in their coffees.

A survey of 30 Canberra cafes by the Heart Foundation's LivingLighter project found about 57 per cent of cafes used low-fat milk in their coffees when skim milk was ordered.

Of the coffee shops surveyed, 37 per cent did not make skim milk available to their customers.

According to Australian food standards, skim milk must have a fat content of no higher than 0.15 per cent, while full cream milk must have at least 3.2 per cent.

Heart Foundation ACT chief executive Tony Stubbs said while the issue was admittedly a "first world problem", for people trying to improve their health and monitor their fat intake, the type of milk used in their daily coffee could make a big difference.

Mr Stubbs said for coffee lovers who enjoyed two or three brews a day, the calories could add up quickly.

"The more full cream milk you're having, the more kilojoules you're consuming," he told 666 ABC Canberra's Breakfast program.

"If you're getting a small cappuccino, which is about 250 millilitres, you're getting about 250kJ if you use skim.

"If you're using low fat you get about 360kJ."

"Three jumbo coffees equal a third of your daily kilojoules."

Not about fat but taste: cafe owner

Cafe owner Rob Sawkins said his baristas used milk with a fat content of 1.5 per cent when customers asked for a "skinny" coffee.

With more than 15 years of experience, he said he made his choice of milk in accordance with a customer's preference.

"In all my time I've never had anyone ask for specifically skim milk," he said.

He said he believed many people chose a "skinny" over full cream milk for the taste difference, rather than the fat content.

"If you give someone who's used to having skinny lattes a full-fat latte, they instantly dislike the flavour," he said.

"They've gotten used to the low fat... it almost makes the coffee taste quite different."

Before opening his current business, Jamossa Cafe in Braddon, Mr Sawkins was national operations manager for a major coffee shop chain.

"I never fielded any complaints or requests for skim milk," he said.

Ditch the jumbo coffee: Heart Foundation

Dietitian Nerida Volker said while coffee itself was not high in kilojoules, or fat, the way we drank it often was.

"People don't always consider their beverages in their daily nutrition intake," she said.

"If you regularly drink a large latte made from full-cream milk it could contain 1,100kJ and 13 grams of fat, and this could be contributing to an expanding waistline."

The recommended daily intake of kilojoules for the average adult is 8700kJ.

What's in a large latte?

Ms Volker said people looking to monitor their kilojoule intake should choose a good quality coffee, make it small cup and ask for low-fat or skim milk.

Mr Stubbs said the Australian Dietary Guidelines and medical research indicated that saturated fat was a big indicator, not only for cardiovascular disease, but for other conditions.

He said small changes to a person's coffee drinking habits could actually dramatically reduce their fat intake.

"A lot of people aren't aware of that. They're saying 'oh well I'm really struggling to lose weight', and maybe a small change they can actually make is to go 'well, actually the jumbo size - I don't actually need all of that'," he said.

Mr Stubbs said kilojoule conscious coffee drinkers should also ask their local cafe owner what type of milk was being used in their skinny coffee.

"If people really want to have skinny and they want to manage their weight, then look at the sizes and actually what they're putting into it," he said.