Coffee Calorie Alert!

[color=darkblue:3fd11b8954]Well that's blown it. No more mocha frappuccinos for me[/color:3fd11b8954][img:3fd11b8954]http://www.addis-welt.de/smilie/smilie/traurig/weinen.gif[/img:3fd11b8954].

[b:3fd11b8954]Coffee beats Big Mac in the fat stakes [/b:3fd11b8954]

12.11.05
By Nicola Boyes

Wake up and smell the coffee - that frappuccino you just drank contained more fat than a Big Mac and a medium Coke combined.

A survey of national coffee chains Starbucks and Gloria Jean's Coffees, published in this month's Consumer magazine, reveals your coffee break could see you breaking the scales. Those who opt for the standard stuff are not doing too much damage - a 400ml trim-milk cafe latte at Gloria Jean's comes to 486 kilojoules (kJ). But Consumer found both chains' super-sized chilled coffee drinks - generally loaded with sugary syrup and cream - contained more fat than a McDonald's Big Mac hamburger (2196kJ and 28g of fat) and medium Coke (614kJ and less than a gram of fat) combined.

The 600ml version of Gloria Jean's Creme Brulee Chiller was a heavyweight with 3170kJ. A Starbucks White Hot Chocolate with Whip reached 3006kj. Each gives you at least 31 grams of fat - and no less than 20 teaspoons of sugar. For the average woman that's about 40 per cent of the usual daily fat intake, says Consumer. In contrast, a grilled chicken breast with a potato and sour cream, a Greek salad and a glass of white wine adds up to 1667kJ (9g of fat and half a teaspoon of sugar).

In response to demand, Starbucks introduced a new line of 'light' frappuccino in February. The lighter option is claimed to have 30 to 40 per cent fewer calories than the full-fat equivalent, according to its website. A large-size, low-fat Coffee Frappuccino Blended Coffee totals 498kJ, against the full-flavoured version's 795kJ.

The Consumer survey follows McDonald's announcement this month that it would begin labelling its food wrappers with fat, carbohydrate, protein, sodium and energy content. Consumer magazine, however, could find no nutritional information for McDonald's McCafe offerings. McDonald's spokesperson Liam Jeory says that nutritional analysis has not been done on the chain's coffees, as the company has not perceived that there is consumer demand for that information. The Herald's own quick survey of Gloria Jean's and Starbucks in Queen St made some jaw-dropping revelations among customers.

"Blimey," said Claire Rodger sitting in Gloria Jean's. "I thought it would be high but I'm surprised it's that much."

* * *

[b:3fd11b8954]Counting the kilojoules [/b:3fd11b8954]
EnergyFatGloria Jean's Creme Brulee Chiller Energy: 3170kJ Fat: 31g
Starbucks White Hot Chocolate Energy: 3006kJ Fat: 31g
Big Mac Energy: 2196kJ Fat: 28g
Recommended daily intake (medium)* Energy: 8600kJ Fat: 62-65g

*Actual amount varies widely, depending on size, exercise levels.

Just give me a nice stiff cuppa French roast. Kilojoules? Aack, I haven't played with those since physics! I'm glad I don't count calories much.

Lucky you! I'm OK if I keep up with plenty of excercise, but that's not always so easy here with the heat. Would be better if I was within easy reach of a gym. How wonderful to be able to eat and drink just what you like and not have to worry.

I can't eat & drink as much as I'd like - I wish I could. I've just learned (mostly) how much I can consume in a day related to my normal amount of activity. I very rarely consume fast food or soft drinks, which helps. If I'd lay off wine and chocolate, or get more active, I could drop the 5-10 pounds I've griped about for years.

Get your tonsils out. Lost a stone in 3 weeks. banza!!! :icon_mrgreen:

Whenever I get so ill that I can't eat and I lose weight, I always find I'm driven to make up for lost eating once I'm well again and, of course, the weight goes back on, too. Bummer! [img:776b363982]http://www.kolobok.wrg.ru/smiles/standart/swoon2.gif[/img:776b363982]

[quote:c18903c1f3="SteveyC"]Get your tonsils out. Lost a stone in 3 weeks. banza!!! :icon_mrgreen:[/quote:c18903c1f3]
I thought of that, but prefer to keep my body parts intact if I can. I doubt I could pretend to have had my tonsils out, and not eat.

Thinking of those mocha frappuccino thingies and other sweet beverages... Keep in mind that a 12oz can of soda pop typically contains 12 teaspoons of sugar - ugh! No wonder they're so syrupy. A friend told me that if you drank one can of soda every day for a year, you would have consumed 25 pounds of sugar - double ugh!

Has anyone else heard what my doctor told me, that even diet fizzies still contain heaps of sugar? I forget who she quoted, but someone in authority had said diet fizzies aren't any better for you and don't serve their purpose.

The sweetners in diet coke (an any other sweetners) contain a chemical (Aspartame) that is poisonous! Aspartame contains or is phenylalanine, which is poisonous! If you look carefully on anything that contains sweetners, there is usually some kind of warning that it contains phenylalanine.

So, have a small chance of gaining weight with sugar or poison yourself with sweetner? Tough choice.

I think it's a bit more than a small chance of gaining weight, as these things are stuffed full of sugar. But then some people don't have to worry about their weight, do they, you lucky slim, lanky person? [img:ff614fc6c9]http://www.crazypics.de/smilies/boese/2/0042.gif[/img:ff614fc6c9]

What the doc was implying, as we were discussing ways of losing weight, was that the diet fizzies are no better at helping you lose weight than the regular ones. Why, I don't know, as she didn't enlighten me. Luckily I don't indulge very often, as I blow up like an air balloon after them, so it doesn't worry me too much. Just thought that, if it is true, then a lot of people are labouring under a rather large misapprehension. The manufacturers could be done for misrepresentation under the Trading Standards Act.