Though some people might go to Chick-fil-A to eat more chicken, many flock to the fast-food chain in search of their signature sweet tea. In case you’re looking for a beverage with a little extra sweetness (without the full-blown sugar rush brought on by one of their milkshakes), Chick-fil-A now has their own version of an Arnold Palmer, called a Sunjoy, which blends their tea with freshly squeezed lemonade.
Tea generally doesn’t contain enough caffeine to give anyone the jitters, but you might still be curious how much of the stimulant lies in a Chick-fil-A sweet or unsweet tea, especially if you’re cautious about your caffeine levels due to pregnancy or another health condition. Here’s everything we know about the caffeine in Chick-fil-A’s sweet tea and other signature caffeinated beverages. In short, a 16-ounce cup of Chick-fil-A sweet tea contains about 61 mg of caffeine.
How Much Caffeine Does Chick-fil-A Sweet Tea Contain?
Regardless of if you like it plain or sweet, any 16 oz. cup of Chick-fil-A tea contains 61 mg of caffeine. This is considerably less than their Thrive coffee, which has 217 mg in a 16 oz. serving. Since a Sunjoy consists of half sweet tea, half lemonade, we can calculate the amount of caffeine by dividing the caffeine content in tea in half. A 16 oz. cup of Sunjoy, then, contains about 30 mg of caffeine. Other signature caffeinated drinks, such as the Frosted Coffee and Chick-fil-A Iced Coffee, land in the middle of the road with 148 mg and 91 mg, respectively.
| Beverage | Caffeine Content Per Fluid Ounce |
| Sweet or Unsweet Tea | 3.9 mg |
| Iced Coffee | 5.7 mg |
| Frosted Coffee | 9.3 mg |
| Sunjoy | 2 mg |
How Chick-fil-A Sweet Tea Compares to Other Restaurant Teas
Tea generally has less caffeine than coffee. However, Chick-fil-A tops competitor fast food chains for the amount of caffeine in their sweet tea. Here are how a few other fast-food sweet teas compare:
| Beverage | Caffeine Content Per Fluid Ounce |
| Chick-fil-A Tea | 3.9 mg |
| Wendy’s Sweet Tea | 2 mg |
| McDonald’s Sweet Tea | 3.1 mg |
How Much Caffeine Is Too Much?
The FDA recommends that the average adult consume 400 mg or less of caffeine every day. When calculating exactly how much caffeine you’re consuming, it’s important to remember that it’s not all about sweet tea and coffee. Caffeine can sneak in unsuspecting foods like chocolate and even some protein shakes.
Additionally, 400 mg is a general estimate. Talk to your doctor about how much caffeine is recommended for your individual health conditions. You should also scale back if you notice adverse caffeine effects such as trouble sleeping, restlessness, trouble concentrating, or anxiety without cause.
Conclusion
Chick-fil-A’s sweet tea is a good afternoon energy boost when you no longer need quite as much caffeine as coffee but it’s not quite late enough in the day to switch to decaf. While their sweet tea doesn’t contain an overabundance of caffeine, it still has more than some other fast food restaurant sweet teas.
It’s always a good idea to keep tabs on exactly how much caffeine you’re consuming, especially if it’s from multiple sources, to make sure you’re safely within the 400 mg daily amount recommended by the FDA. However, every individual is different, so you might want to trade a coffee or sweet tea for a decaf beverage or a Sunjoy if you start to notice symptoms of caffeine intolerance or overdose.
Featured Image Credit: S_Photo, Shutterstock
