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Organic Homemade Starbucks Frappuccino

Wonder why companies like Starbucks don’t list all their ingredients on their website? How many consumers are really willing to call, email and ask busy baristas about the ingredients? I don’t know too many, and Starbucks is betting on us not to ask. When a company makes a decision to release all their food product ingredients on their website, but not the major portion of their product line – their drinks, you’ve just got to wonder why. Are they purposely trying to hide things?

After repeated visits to Starbucks locations and exchanging several emails, I found out the ingredients of their famous frappuccinos and figured out why they want to make it hard for the consumer to get this information.

Just take a look at the ingredients:

Coffee Frappuccino Syrup: Sugar, Water, Natural and Artificial Flavor, Xanthan Gum (E415), Preservative: Potassium Sorbate (E202), Citric Acid (E330), Caramel Color (E150d)

 

Light Coffee Frappuccino Syrup: Water, sugar, Erythritol (E968), Natural Flavors, Salt, carrageenan (E407), Xanthan Gum (E415), Maltodextrin, Preservative: Potassium Sorbate (E202), Citric Acid (E330), Reb A, Color: Caramel (E150d, E150b)

 

Mocha Sauce: Corn Syrup, Water, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Sugar, Cocoa (processed with alkali 13%), Potassium Sorbate (preservative E202), Artificial Flavor.

 

Mocha Frappuccino

WATER (ICE), Milk, Coffee flavored Frappuccino Syrup (SUGAR, WATER, SALT, NATURAL AND ARTIFICIAL FLAVOR, XANTHAN GUM, POTASSIUM SORBATE [PRESERVATIVE], CITRIC ACID, CARAMEL COLOR), Sweetened whip cream (Heavy cream, vanilla flavored syrup (SUGAR, WATER, NATURAL FLAVOR, POTASSIUM SORBATE [PRESERVATIVE], CITRIC ACID, CARAMEL COLOR)), Hydrated coffee (water, Frappuccino roast soluble coffee), hydrated mocha powder (Water, Sugar, Cocoa [processed with alkali], artificial flavor).

 

Caramel Ribbon Crunch Frappuccino

WATER (ICE), Milk, CRÈME flavored Frappuccino Syrup (WATER, SUGAR, SALT, NATURAL AND ARTIFICIAL FLAVOR, XANTHAN GUM, POTASSIUM SORBATE [PRESERVATIVE], CITRIC ACID), DARK CARAMEL SAUCE (SUGAR, LIQUID INVERT SUGAR, WATER, BUTTER (CREAM, SALT), WHIPPING CREAM, SKIM MILK, NATURAL FLAVORS, SALT, SODIUM BICARBONATE), Sweetened whip cream (Heavy cream, vanilla flavored syrup (SUGAR, WATER, NATURAL FLAVOR, POTASSIUM SORBATE [PRESERVATIVE], CITRIC ACID, CARAMEL COLOR)), CARAMEL flavored Syrup (SUGAR, WATER, NATURAL AND ARTIFICIAL FLAVOR, POTASSIUM SORBATE [PRESERVATIVE], CITRIC ACID, CARAMEL COLOR), caramel sauce (Corn Syrup, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Sugar, Butter (Cream, Salt), Heavy Cream, Water, Non-Fat Dry Milk, Natural Flavors, Mono & Diglycerides, Soy Lecithin), Caramel Sugar (Cane Sugar, Natural Flavors, Salt, Caramel Color, Annatto Color).

 

Cinnamon Dolce Crème Frappuccino

WATER (ICE), Milk, CRÈME flavored Frappuccino Syrup (WATER, SUGAR, SALT, NATURAL AND ARTIFICIAL FLAVOR, XANTHAN GUM, POTASSIUM SORBATE [PRESERVATIVE], CITRIC ACID), Sweetened whip cream (Heavy cream, vanilla flavored syrup (SUGAR, WATER, NATURAL FLAVOR, POTASSIUM SORBATE [PRESERVATIVE], CITRIC ACID, CARAMEL COLOR)), CINNAMON DOLCE FLAVORED Syrup (SUGAR, WATER, NATURAL AND ARTIFICIAL FLAVOR, CITRIC ACID, POTASSIUM SORBATE [PRESERVATIVE], CARAMEL COLOR).

 

Vanilla Macchiato

REDUCED FAT Milk, Espresso (Water, Coffee), VANILLA FLAVORED SYRUP (SUGAR, WATER, NATURAL FLAVOR, POTASSIUM SORBATE [PRESERVATIVE], CITRIC ACID, CARAMEL COLOR), VANILLA FLAVORED SAUCE (Corn Syrup, SUGAR, BROWN SUGAR, WATER, BUTTER, HEAVY CREAM, NONFAT DRY MILK, NATURAL FLAVOR, SALT, Mono & Diglycerides, Soy Lecithin, XANTHAN GUM).

 

Hot Chocolate

REDUCED FAT MILK, HYDRATED MOCHA POWDER (WATER, SUGAR, COCOA [PROCESSED WITH ALKALI], ARTIFICIAL FLAVOR), Sweetened whip cream (Heavy cream, vanilla flavored syrup (SUGAR, WATER, NATURAL FLAVOR, POTASSIUM SORBATE [PRESERVATIVE], CITRIC ACID, CARAMEL COLOR)), VANILLA FLAVORED SYRUP (SUGAR, WATER, NATURAL FLAVOR, POTASSIUM SORBATE [PRESERVATIVE], CITRIC ACID, CARAMEL COLOR).

Frapp-Caramel2

A Grande Mocha Frappuccino has 60 grams of nutrition-less sugar. But that’s not all. It contains a seriously alarming ingredient called caramel color.


This type of caramel isn’t the stuff you make at home by cooking sugar. The caramel color Starbucks uses is manufactured by heating ammonia and sulfites under high pressure which creates carcinogenic compounds. The same caramel that has been proven to cause liver tumors, lung tumors, and thyroid tumors in rats and mice. The Center for Science in the Public Interest concluded earlier this year that dangerous levels of caramel coloring in soda could be contributed to thousands of cancers in the US!

2/10/2014 Update from the Consumers Union, they presented this research when reviewing caramel color in sodas:

In 2007, a federal government study concluded that 4-MeI caused cancer in mice and the International Agency for Research on Cancer determined the chemical to be “possibly carcinogenic to humans” in 2011. There’s no federal limit for levels of 4-MeI in foods and beverages, but as of January 7, 2012 California requires manufacturers to label a product sold in the state with a cancer warning if it exposes consumers to more than 29 micrograms of 4-MeI per day. In this case, the exposure comes from consumption.

And if you think you are saving yourself calories from sugar by getting the light version of the Frappuccino, you are replacing that sugar with yet another carcinogen called carrageenan that I’ve discussed before that is linked to intestinal inflammation.

Substances like caramel coloring & carrageenan are slowly poisoning us. Are you willing to take the risk? I am certainly not.

There is good news though. You can actually make a delicious and sweet icy coffee drink just like a frappuccino but with no carcinogens and made from nutritious natural sugars.

Make my Homemade Organic Frappuccino and you’ll never have to go on that Starbucks run again!

FB OF

Food Babe’s Homemade Organic Frappucino
 
Prep time
Total time
 
Serves: 2
Ingredients
  • 1 and ½ cup coffee
  • ½ cup almond milk
  • 2 tbsp raw cacao powder
  • 2 pitted dates
  • 1 frozen banana
  • 10 ice cubes
Instructions
  1. Place all ingredients in blender and blend well
Notes
***Please buy all organic ingredients***

 

The best ingredient here is Raw Cacao Powder, one of the highest concentrated antioxidants on earth. The antioxidants have been clinically proven to literally dissolve plaque built up in the arteries which helps in reversing heart disease and causes naturally lower blood pressure. Also, Raw Cacao contains several amino acids that give you an overall sense of well-being, bliss, pleasure and pure happiness. I don’t think any Starbucks Frappuccino can promise that!

Navitas Naturals is my favorite brand of Raw Cacao Powder – check them out.

Cheers!

Food Babe

P.S. Don’t forget to read my whole investigation “Sabotaged at Starbucks” and tell them you don’t want to support Monsanto Milk anymore by visiting their facebook page here. 

 

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136 responses to “Organic Homemade Starbucks Frappuccino

  1. You are posting things I’ve been researching for years. I enjoy your blogs and videos.

    However, fruit and coffee together is disgusting. I use raw local honey, cocoa powder, and thick canned coconut milk (the kind with no added extra ingredients). I can pour over ice or blend with ice.

    But no thank you on the fruit. Gross. 🙂

  2. Well Duh…….That wasn’t rocket science to figure out that one! If you go inside a Starbucks, you notice the Torani Syrup’s they use. And if you go inside the local markets, they sell Torani Syrup’s. So yes, they do contain all those ingrediance. As far as the coffee, it’s good quality and comes from one of the top coffee destinations in the world, Nicaragua. I’m a part-time travel journalist and I saw for my own eyes how the coffee is produced. I was even at one of the local farms. I did find out though, why Starbucks is so expensive. It’s for the simple fact, they rip you off by adding more milk to the coffee drinks, then actual coffee! I think that’s something more to be discussed then the obvious.

    1. Yeah, well, call me stupid, but I never heard of Torani Syrup; however, I do know that you do not make the plural form of a noun by adding an apostrophe, so I hope you have a good editor as you travel-journal all those places where you observe the obvious.

      1. @Mary Pitner
        Just because you are a grammar Natzi doesn’t mean you have to be rude about it. There was absolutely no need for you to made that observation and in such a rude way, as to mention his having a good editor while he travels and observes the obvious. You win the rudeness award, congrats.

    2. Actually, if you have ever been inside a Starbucks, you would have noticed that they do not use torani syrups, but instead they manifacture their own, making it not possible to go into a local store and purchase them.

  3. I started using just straight condensed milk to make white mochas when I realized that Starbucks white mocha syrup was basically that mixed with oil and high fructose corn syrup. Why do you need to add corn syrup to condensed milk? It’s already sweet enough. Then I make my own peppermint syrup (half water, half sugar…boil til sugar dissolves) and use organic coffee. So I have organic peppermint white mochas for a fraction of the cost of Starbucks. Too bad organic condensed milk is so expensive. Organic milk is double the cost of regular milk too. Guess that’s better than some veggies, which can be as much as 10 times the cost of conventional.

  4. Just a response to world traveler about Starbuck’s coffee being of good quality. Unless their coffee beans say organic, you are getting coffee that is contaminated with pesticides just like any other coffee grower’s beans. This means that Starbuck’s non-organic coffee is toxic and should be avoided.

  5. This was so good as I’m on day 27 of my personal no added sugar challenge. I am concerned about the reports on cadmium in cacao powder. Foodbabe, what do you think about that?

    1. Actually, I’m not hiding… just busy. Rudeness was not my intention; I actually responded re. apostrophes because of World Traveler’s rude tone. 🙂

  6. Vani, you are AMAZING for going after Starbucks!!! They have more than enough power to change what needs to be changed; not to mention the huge number of people who spend their hard earned money here everyday. They should at least be able to buy a product that won’t end up killing them! Don’t listen to anyone who tries to bring you down! The world needs people like you!

    1. Sucralose is sugar. I use an app called Bobby approved and everything you scan come up with the ingredients especially if they are not clean.
      Starbucks uses ingredients that everyone is addicted to which is sugar.
      People are so addicted that it’s like drugs they want more and more.
      There are alternatives to making clean organic items and using clean organic ingredients.
      It may cost a bit more but it has made a difference in our health, especially my son with special needs.
      I also use the Yuka App which gives most items a product scoring. “Based on the present state of science, each ingredient is assigned a level of risk based on its potential effects on health or the environment.”
      Level of risk:
      hazardous
      moderate risk
      limited
      no risk

      I used these apps to scan all my products I purchase and if one isn’t on the no risk I use the app to find an alternative since making these changes it has really helped our sons health.

      Hope this helps someone, if not just for the information itself.
      Thank You!

  7. Anything at Starbucks or Caribou Coffee that you can actually get that isn’t bad for you?

    1. Starbucks makes a coffee in the refrigerator section that is clean and no added ingredients. It’s the Starbucks’s iced coffee unsweetened.
      On the Yuka app it’s on the good list and on the Bobby approved app it’s also on the good list.

  8. I thought I was getting organic fresh fruit at Starbucks till I saw them unloading their fresh fruit supply from a Fresh Fruit box just like the one they sell packaged at the 7/11.

    1. Because they are getting overripe. Awesome for banana bread if you can find it in your freezer.

  9. No harm throwing in frozen banana in the mix. Therein is flavor, thickness/texture and helps keep it all cold, dig? ;-}

  10. I really do admire what you are doing and am loving the recipes but it has just occurred to me that you are continuing to fund Nestle the corporation (responsible for err so much like pushing SMA baby milk formula on third world country mothers and now buying up the water supply) by recommending we buy their Nespresso Aeroccino Plus . Surely its not enough to eat organic. We need to consider the extent of the corruption we are continuing to fund!. Lets wake up to the brainwashing and look into how we can really THRIVE in every way.

  11. Looking for a natural way to make a caramel frap. With no / low sugar and I landed on your sight. I live in St. Louis… Home of Monsanto….such a nasty company… But aren’t MOST company’s only out for a profit???… Starbucks is NO different. It’s a shame we have to almost be a flippin research scientist to be able to understand what goes into our “food”… And I use that word loosely. Great information although not a surprise. Not really a big fan of coffee and bananas… But it’s better for you than all the toxic crap that companies are shoving down our throats!!!

    1. Exactly and well said. I’ve learned to experiment with items like organic banana or other organic fruits, even organic honey and organic maple syrup. It’s a more natural ingredient than some of the ingredients in most products that we can’t even pronounce.
      Try your own and come up with something your tastebuds like.
      Our pallets are all different, so the banana and dates for me are too sweet, so I’d try honey or maple syrup as an alternative or something else like monk fruit or stevia.
      Just depends on our taste pallet.
      Hope you find what best works for you.

  12. I Love the coffee from Nicaragua, taste delicious, especially the organic one. But I feel that big companies take advantage of these Nicaraguan coffee farmers like they do to us customers who buy their coffee drinks.

  13. Food Babe, what do you think of the recent reports that say Navitas cacao powder has toxic levels of cadmium in it? I am a Navitas lover too, and am worried/don’t know what other brand to use!

    1. Have you looked into the Navitas Organic Cacao Nibs. Seems to be cleaner than other items. Search in the BobbMy Approved app for alternatives as well.
      Hope this helps

  14. Saw this comment on Navitas Cacao Amazon site:

    . Is this true?61 of 63 people found the following review helpful
    Consumer Lab testing shows high cadmium levels
    By ElleJ on May 21, 2014
    Size Name: 16 Ounce (Pack of 2) Verified Purchase
    I used this cacao powder frequently until Consumer Lab testing showed high cadmium levels. Here’s the link:[…]

    Until Navitas addresses this issue, I will not purchase this again. I am extremely disappointed that this organic product has such a high level of this toxic heavy metal.

    Update: It looks like Amazon deleted the link. According to Consumer Lab, the upper limit for cadmium is 0.3 mcg/gram (0.3 ppm). Navitas Naturals Cacao Powder contains 0.95 mcg/gram (0.95 ppm) which is over 3 times the upper limit. “Cadmium is a probable carcinogen, can be toxic to kidneys, can cause softening of bones, and may affect fetal development” according to CL. The effects are weight dependent so children will be impacted more.

  15. Not trying to confuse anyone but are we talking about a 6 oz cup or 8 oz standard cup of coffee. 9 oz of coffee or 12 oz (1 +1/2 cups)

  16. Actually, if you have ever been inside a Starbucks, you would have noticed that they do not use torani syrups, but instead they manifacture their own, making it not possible to go into a local store and purchase them.

  17. Actually, if you have ever been inside a Starbucks, you would have noticed that they do not use torani syrups, but instead they manifacture their own, making it not possible to go into a local store and purchase them.

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