Campaigners have issued a warning over ‘outrageous’ levels of sugar in ‘ready to drink’ spirits and cocktails, with some containing as much as four doughnuts.

Analysis carried out by Action on Sugar – the first survey of its kind – has revealed high levels of sugar and calories in alcopops and ‘gin in a tin’ drinks.

One large 700ml bottle of alcopop WKD Blue was found to contain 59g or 15 teaspoons of sugar, the same as eating over four iced doughnuts in one sitting.

Tesco Strawberry Daiquiri Alcoholic Frozen Sorbet was found to contain nine teaspoons of sugar in just 250ml of drink, while Archers Schnapps and Lemonade, Malibu Cola and Goslings Dark N’ Stormy Black Seal Rum and Ginger Beer all contained eight teaspoons.

However nine out of 10 pre-mixed spirits were found to contain no information about sugar content on packaging.

Experts say shoppers are left knowing less about what is in their alcoholic drink than when they buy milk or orange juice.  

Katharine Jenner, campaign director at Action on Sugar, based at Queen Mary University of London, said: “‘Gin in a tin’ has become a cultural phenomenon with these types of drinks often consumed ‘on the go’ and without a moment’s consideration to how much sugar and alcohol goes into making them.

“Even if you did want to know, you can’t make a healthy choice as only one in ten of the products surveyed had enough information available.

“If consumers knew how much sugar was really in these drinks, would they still happily choose to drink their way to tooth decay, obesity and type 2 diabetes?”

The campaigners say that while a tax on sugary drinks has been successful for soft drinks, it is “absurd” that a vodka and lemonade is exempt.

The Treasury said taxes on alcoholic beverages are far higher than those on sugary drinks.

A typical can of mixer and spirit would pay 29p in alcohol duty, the Treasury said, compared to up to 6p that could be levied on a sweetened soft drink.

“Pre-mixed spirit drinks are taxed through alcohol duties, which are at a significantly higher rate than the childhood obesity-focused Soft Drinks Industry Levy.

“These raise over £12bn a year which helps pay for vital public services such as the NHS.”

Action on Sugar, which commissioned independent laboratory analysis of 21 products for the survey, wants manufacturers to have to reformulate alcoholic products to meet the same criteria or pay the levy and is calling for improved labelling of these products.

Professor Sir Ian Gilmore, chair of the Alcohol Health Alliance, said consumers have the right to know exactly what they are drinking.

“Shoppers who buy alcohol get less information about what’s in their drink than those who buy milk or orange juice; this is simply outrageous.”

Lorraine Tulloch, programme lead at Obesity Action Scotland, said: “Ready to drink alcoholic beverages may be convenient but this study shows the alarming amount of sugar the industry is adding to these products. 

“These products aren’t required to have a nutrition label on them and we can see very few companies have chosen to provide this information.  

“It is vital that customers be afforded an informed choice when purchasing food or drinks – there is no good reason why this should be any different simply because these drinks contain alcohol.”

Alison Douglas, chief executive of Alcohol Focus Scotland, said the research provided another example of the “alcohol industry choosing to withhold basic information from consumers”.

“At the moment it’s impossible to make an informed choice. Unlike for other food and drink, there is no legal requirement to provide details on sugar content or ingredients on alcoholic products.

“We need reliable information directly on bottles and cans where it can usefully inform our decisions.”

However John Timothy, chief executive of the Portman Group, which represents UK alcohol producers and brewers, said action was already underway.

“The industry has signed up to a number of Europe-wide voluntary commitments on nutrition which will give consumers access to information both on labels and through websites within the next two years.

“Many drinks producers also already offer lower calorie alternatives to give consumers greater choice.”