Updated 4/6/2015 (see bottom of post)
I really love the smell of pumpkin (especially in the Fall), but, there is at least one seasonal pumpkin treat that I will never order and that’s the Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte. With more than 200 million sold to date, these drinks sell like hotcakes this time of year, and Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz said it “still ranks as its most popular seasonal beverage”. But, does anyone know what’s really in it?
I found out, and I’m going to break it all down for you here.
But first, I want to mention that I get riled up when restaurants refuse to disclose their ingredients, because we have the right to know what we are eating and drinking. I’ve tried for years to get ingredient information from Starbucks and it’s been a bit frustrating to say the least. If you’ve ever tried emailing their customer service for ingredients you probably know what I’m talking about.
This week, we emailed them asking for the complete list of ingredients in the Pumpkin Spice Latte and this was their response:
“The Pumpkin Spice Latte is of pumpkin and traditional fall spice flavors combined with espresso and steamed milk, topped with whipped cream and pumpkin pie spice. If you ever have any questions or concerns in the future, please don’t hesitate to get in touch”.
After several more emails back and forth, they were still refusing to share the ingredients:
While we understand that some customers would like to know the nutrition information for their specific customized beverage, unfortunately we are unable to provide this level of detail for every beverage customization request. The beverage information that is available on Starbucks.com reflects the beverage offerings currently on our menu with the most common customization options.
For a company that prides itself in its transparency, it’s unbelievable to me that this is how they respond to customers who ask for information about what’s in their drinks. After really putting the pressure on, I was finally able to get the complete list, but it wasn’t easy. While they list some ingredients on their website, they still do not list the ingredients in their most popular items: their drinks! This includes all of their lattes, frappuccinos, macchiatos, smoothies, etc. Starbucks doesn’t even publish the ingredients in their “Kid’s Drinks” – keeping parents completely in the dark. If you have a food allergy, their allergen information isn’t available online either.
How’s that for transparency?
Besides trying to get an employee to spill the beans, pretty much the only way to get the ingredients in their drinks is to go into their online store and search for each of the individual components that make up these drinks, but they are not all listed here. Quite frankly, this is a pain. This also requires you to know all of the components that make up the drink that you order. For instance, the Pumpkin Spice Latte isn’t just espresso, syrup and milk. If you order it the usual way on the menu, it contains espresso, pumpkin sauce, steamed milk (or soy milk), whipped cream and spice topping – and these each come with their own ingredient list.
Another way to get ingredients is to email and call customer service, or to ask a corporate contact at Starbucks (if you’re lucky enough to know one like me). We used all of these avenues to get the ingredients in this drink, and you know what?
We got different ingredients.
Overall, the ingredients were similar, but there were slight differences. We initially called Starbucks customer service and they said that all of the syrups sold in their online store are the same ones that are used in the restaurant, and that specifically the Pumpkin Sauce is the same. The online version here says Pumpkin Sauce contains high fructose corn syrup. They also divulged the ingredients in the whipped cream, spice topping, and soy milk.
Shortly thereafter, we also received a response to our email inquiry and this is when things became shady.
This time the ingredient list they sent over didn’t have any high fructose corn syrup on it. Rather, it was replaced with “sweetened condensed nonfat milk”. After a couple email exchanges, they seemed to confirm that HFCS is an ingredient:
“Yes the sauce that we sell online at www.starbucks.com is that same sauce that we use in our stores. I understand you concerns about high fructose corn syrup being used in the Sweentened Condensed Nonfat Milk. Please be aware that product information is provided to us by the suppliers who manufacture food and beverage items for Starbucks Coffee Company. Variations may exist due to periodic changes in formulations. While we attempt to provide product information that is as complete as possible, product changes or new product introductions may cause this information to become outdated or incomplete. Products may vary from location to location”.
I wasn’t done yet. I also contacted a PR rep at Starbucks whom I had been in contact with previously and asked her to send me the ingredients. According to her, “The condensed milk is sweetened with sugar (no HFCS)”.
As you can see, this makes for a very confusing customer experience, and I still don’t really know if it contains high fructose corn syrup (or not).
Why won’t they just publish ingredients online and end the confusion?
They obviously know what the ingredients are in each of their drinks, so I see no reason for them to hold back from publishing them (in their entirety) online just like they do for their food items. This would make it easy for their customers to know exactly what they are drinking. I believe the reason that they’re dragging their feet is because they don’t want you to know about the harmful additives in their biggest selling items.
Case In Point: You’ll get 2 doses of Class IV Caramel Coloring in Starbuck’s Pumpkin Spice Latte.
You’ve probably heard me talk about caramel coloring before, and that’s because I think it’s one of the most hazardous chemicals being added to our food. Although it sounds harmless, food safety and consumer watch dog groups say it is not.
There are four different types (classes) of caramel coloring and two of those types contain the dangerous substance 4-methylimidazole (4-Mel). Starbucks uses Class IV Caramel Color, considered the most harmful type that contains 4-Mel, in many of their drink syrups and sauces. It’s even in their whipped cream!
Why Starbucks should stop using Class IV Caramel Coloring immediately:
- It’s created in a laboratory by reacting corn sugar with ammonia and sulfites under high pressure and temperature, which produces the byproduct 4-Mel.
- A U.S government funded study found that feeding mice caramel coloring IV (which contained 4-Mel) increased their risk of developing lung cancer and leukemia, at every dosage level.
- The International Agency for Research on Cancer classifies 4-Mel as “possibly carcinogenic to humans”.
- Any food or drink that contains more than 29 micrograms of 4-Mel requires a cancer warning label In California (under Prop 65) that says, “WARNING: This product contains a chemical known to the State of California to cause cancer.”
- The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) petitioned the FDA to ban caramel coloring in 2011 due to safety concerns and the cancer risk of allowing this ingredient in our food.
- It has no nutritional benefits and is only used cosmetically to improve the appearance of food and drinks, yet there are safer alternatives available to food manufacturers.
- It’s sometimes added unnecessarily to food and drinks that are naturally brown or that are not even visible to the consumer (e.g. baby vitamin drops).
- It’s the most widely used food coloring in the world, which makes it easy to consume excessive amounts.
- Thankfully, the FDA is currently reviewing its safety and GRAS status, due to a Consumer Reports study that found excessive levels in many popular drinks.
In previous correspondence with Starbucks, they told me they have no plans to remove the ingredient and, “in all instances where the color is used in our beverages, the level is well below the No Significant Risk Level (NSRL) allowed by California’s Prop 65, regarded as a conservative evaluation system, and safe to consume”. I haven’t seen any testing results that show the exact levels of 4-Mel found in Starbucks drinks, so we just have to take their word for it on this one. Also, even if the level is below what’s allowed, what if someone has a Vente (Starbuck’s largest size) with the double dose of caramel coloring within the syrup and whipcream – what’s the amount of caramel coloring then? Even if the levels are below what’s permitted in California, it’s still not safe. In the opinion of toxicologist Dr. Urvashi Rangan, “There is no ‘safe’ level of 4-MeI, but if you have set a threshold, it should be well below the Prop 65 level (29 micrograms/day) – and more like 3 micrograms/day”. Roasted coffee itself has been shown to contain trace amounts of 4-Mel. Couple that with the fact that this coloring is in just about every processed food you can imagine, so you may be cumulatively eating more of this stuff than you realize – and no amount is safe.
Would you really care if the syrup and sauces that they squirt into your coffee are colored brown? It’s going into brown coffee anyhow…. it’s totally ridiculous to me that caramel coloring is even considered a necessary ingredient and that Starbucks doesn’t ask their suppliers to completely remove it.
Where’s the pumpkin?
After reading the ingredients in the Pumpkin Spice Latte, I can tell you that there’s absolutely no pumpkin. Instead, you’ll be drinking this:
- A Huge Dose of Sugar – A lot of it. Order up a non-fat grande and you’ll get served 50 grams of sugar. Is it a pick-me-up from the caffeine, or all that toxic sugar?
- Monsanto Milk – Even though over a hundred thousand customers are demanding it, Starbucks refuses to serve organic milk (at all locations). Due to consumer pressure, they stopped using milk from cows injected with growth hormones several years ago, but their milk still comes from cows that are fed genetically modified feed all day long – which is really supporting Monsanto and the biotech companies. When cows survive primarily on a cheap grain diet (corn, soy, alfalfa, cotton) it’s bad for the health of the animals, which is contributing to the overuse of antibiotics and the spread of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. If they made the switch to organic milk, or even offered it for that matter, it would ensure that it didn’t come from cows grazing on GMO grains or injected with antibiotics.
- Pesticide Residue – Starbucks doesn’t serve organic coffee in most locations. Non-organic coffee is considered one of the heaviest chemically treated crops in the world, especially when it’s imported from developing nations that allow pesticides that are restricted in the U.S. due to health concerns, such as Chlorpyrifos.
- Natural and Artificial Flavors – Since this drink contains absolutely no pumpkin, this is where all that flavor comes from. The problem with both artificial and natural flavors is that their sources are proprietary and you never really know what they are made from.
- Preservatives and Sulfites – Which may cause allergic reactions or asthma attacks, and is linked with DNA damage.
If you’re vegan, I have a specific warning for you.
Many of you may be shocked to find out that when you order a Pumpkin Spice latte with soy milk, it’s still not vegan. This is because the Pumpkin Sauce contains condensed nonfat milk, and many Starbucks employees don’t realize this and have misinformed customers. This is yet another reason that Starbucks Corporate should be transparent about what’s in their drinks by publishing complete ingredients online.
You’ll also get more than you bargained for if you order up a soy latte, because the Starbucks “proprietary” organic soy milk contains carrageenan – which is linked to gastrointestinal inflammation and cancer. It also contains another dose of added sugar, preservatives and natural flavors.
Complete Ingredients in Starbucks “Pumpkin” Spice Latte:
Milk, Espresso (Water, Brewed Espresso Coffee), Pumpkin Spice Flavored Sauce (Sugar, Condensed Nonfat Milk, High Fructose Corn Syrup or Sweetened Condensed Nonfat Milk (Milk, Sugar), Annatto (for color), Natural and Artificial Flavors, Caramel Color (class IV), Salt, Potassium Sorbate (preservative)), Whip Cream (Whipping Cream, Starbucks Vanilla Syrup (Sugar, Water, Natural Flavors, Potassium Sorbate, Citric Acid, Caramel Color (class IV)), Pumpkin Spice Topping: Cinnamon, Ginger, Nutmeg, Clove, Sulfites.
SOY OPTION:
Starbucks Organic Soy Milk (plain): Filtered Water, Organic Whole Soybeans, Organic Evaporated Cane Juice, Calcium Carbonate, Organic Vanilla Flavor, Natural Flavors, Sea Salt, Carrageenan, Sodium Citrate, Sodium Bicarbonate, Vitamin A Palmitate, Vitamin B2 (Riboflavin), Vitamin B12, Zinc Gluconate.
Starbucks Organic Soy Milk (vanilla): Filtered Water, Organic Whole Soybeans, Organic Evaporated Cane Juice, Calcium Carbonate, Natural Vanilla Flavors, Natural Flavors, Sea Salt, Carrageenan, Sodium Citrate, Sodium Bicarbonate, Vitamin A Palmitate, Vitamin B2 (Riboflavin), Vitamin B12.
Ditch the Starbucks and Drink This Instead!
Mama Natural has a version of a homemade pumpkin spice latte that actually uses real pumpkin! And 100 Days of Real Food has a few quick and easy alternative recipes – see help graphic below.
You can also try a latte with my homemade pistachio milk, which is one of my favorite treats! Also, seek out locally-owned organic fair trade coffee shops in your area. My favorite is Larry’s Beans Organic Fair Trade coffee.
Starbucks: Stop Putting Toxic Chemicals In Your Pumpkin Spice Latte.
- Tell Starbucks to remove unnecessary carcinogenic caramel coloring by commenting on their Facebook and Twitter pages.
- Call their customer service department at 1-800-782-7282 and ask them to remove these harmful additives and post all of their ingredients online.
- Join GMO Inside and sign the petition asking them to serve organic milk at all locations.
- Share this blog post with everyone you know. The more people that know the truth, the more Starbucks will be forced to make a change.
Thank you for your activism and spreading the word in advance. Together we can change the food system. Hopefully in the near future, we can have treats like these without worrying about the toxic chemicals in them!
Xo,
Vani
Update 4/6/2015: I received an email from Starbucks representatives that they have started to remove caramel coloring level IV. “we recently transitioned the vanilla syrup in our US and Canada stores to a new formula which is free from caramel coloring. We prioritized vanilla as it is an ingredient in our whipped cream, so with this one change we removed caramel coloring from many beverages. We are actively working on the rest and don’t have a specific timeline to share at this time.” Go Food Babe Army Go!
I think this article would be even more effective if you didn’t have such an angry tone from the beginning. Starbucks isn’t perfect, but they do serve their customers very well in other ways. After reading this, I think we, as consumers, should put our money where our mouth is. I see lots of education on nutrition from online influences like yourself, but a lack of any real plan to change things. I think your call to action at the end is great, but lets keep it in the spirit of health. Sometimes I feel like those who have a passion for nutrition, turn it into a religion. Let’s let Starbucks know a part of serving the community is to be transparent with nutrition facts. Let’s also keep in mind, people will buy the PSL even after you tell them how bad it is for them.
Amen to Andy Dew!
Agree
Honestly,
Large corporations should stop serving harmful products to human beings, while covering up information that would help said human beings make more educated decisions regarding their health, in order to maximize profits. Sorry, but shame on them. And having been a financial analyst working with massive corporations, such as Starbucks, if you believe their first priority isn’t stock price, to the detriment of the public, then I hope and pray the blinders come off soon. If only everyone could be a fly on the wall in some of the meetings I’ve been a part of.
We should all be very, very angry!!!!
eew. no more sbux for me. i always hear these kinds of things like the plastic cups they used had some interior coating that once melted from the hot coffee was cancer inducing. also noticed a lot of jewish names doing damage control for sbux whose ceo publicly supports israel.
How does that relate that he supports israel? You have a problem?
Your commment should not be here that is rude and unrelated
Wow, the last part of this comment is absolutely absurd. Entirely unnecessary. Jumping at the opportunity to express your racism does not make it any less offensive or ignorant.
Agreed! STFU you liberal hate-toting bigots! Let Starbucks to their thing! If you don’t like it then go to dutch bros or your other local coffee company. We won’t miss you. But the rest of us will continue to support our local coffee company because as far as we are concerned, they are still awesome and have done nothing wrong! The only thing this article proves is that ignorance is the most powerful weapon against progression. Inform yourself before you speak and you will find yourself in a much better place.
Kyle- Really??! What does being liberal have to do with this article? And I am sorry…you stated that this article proves that ignorance is the most powerful weapon against progression… Don’t you mean the opposite when relating to this article? I mean knowing a coffee drink is potentially harmful to your health and calling for a large corp to clean up their product is progression..if something is going to develop over time it should improve not the opposite.. Your comment is ridiculous…if you want to go on drinking additives that are harmful and not even necessary…
Sorry Kyle, but lots of us are very thankful that someone takes the time to investigate ingredients in food. You sound pretty angry yourself by the sounds of it. Do you have shares in Starbucks or something?
You are right, ignorance is the most powerful weapon against progression, and you are clearly not exempt from ignorance. Food Babe investigating Starbucks ingredients shows the opposite of ignorance, but you don’t like her findings, so you are telling her she’s wrong?
Keep enjoying your Starbucks!
You’re dumb and you sound like a corporate shill or a mindless buffoon. You love Starbucks? You’re part of the problem. You shouldn’t love a corporation. They are out to only make money and everything they do is for that goal.
Angry tone? They’re poisoning people and you’re complaining that you pick up on an “angry tone”? You’re either a paid troll or a moron.
Ya, people like YOU will keep buying it, I’m sure. Good luck with that cancer if you keep consuming the crap being put out by the Corporate Globalist scum.
Jay T, why are you resorting to name calling? If you’re really passionate about health, shouldn’t you expend your energy on something like tobacco prevention? Just a thought 🙂
I actually own my own business and use Starbucks as a place to get work done quite often. My personal experience with Starbucks has been one of excellent service. They always treat me with respect and make sure I’m satisfied with my experience there. I’m sure if I voiced my complaint about what they serve to an employee, they would respect my concern and help me to choose a healthier option.
With all the name calling and angry comments to total strangers on this thread, you have to wonder if such animosity is healthy.
So very true!
Agree! And they probably Dont want to be giving out their recipe to the public either. That’s probably why it is difficult to get info. When it boils down to it, everything is potentially bad for you. Sometimes you have to just enjoy a traditional fall beverage every once and awhile without freaking out over every ingredient (by the way high fructose corn syrup is absolutely no worse than regular sucrose and fructose. Your body cannot tell a difference!!)
Service in and of itself is a terrible excuse to justify ingredients that could kill you in the future. I wouldn’t step foot in a restaurant known to frequently poison even if they had five star butlers. How does your logic make sense? It’s like saying, “Oh well, their customer service makes up for the fact that they sell terrible products.” Better brewing your own cup in the morning; they make automatic coffee makers you know. That will also not give you a verbal lashing, although it won’t recommend a better drink to you…
I suppose I just don’t think drinking a pumpkin spiced latte from Starbucks is going to kill the person drinking it. If there was more scientific evidence of the ingredients actually being lethal posion, I’d be much more on board with you. I would love if a Restraunt had butlers by the way!
Yes, this drink is awful…why are we surprised by this? If it’s processed, it likely contains chemicals and things that are truly awful for our bodies. Even though I don’t like how they make the drink, I don’t think they’re “hiding” the truth because they’re embarrassed about ingredients. I think they’re “hiding” the truth from competitors. Starbucks has a tight grip on their ingredients list because there are so many other copy-cat products. With the knowledge of chemicals in processed foods becoming more widespread, and because people are now (finally) beginning to educate themselves on what they’re choosing to put in their bodies, I do believe Starbucks and other huge food producers will be forced to change the ingredients they use. Here’s to hoping!
With 7 billion people in the world thanks to pesticides, GMO’s, herbicides, fossil fuels, vaccinations, plastics and raping the environment. I think the do gooders who want to be “natural” should go live in the woods awhile roughing it on the land fighting the natural order of things and try to subsist on cattails and pine cones. I’ll drink a pumpkin latte if anyone were to purchase me one.
GFY, and brew your own vegan organic coffee at home.
thank you!!!!!!
Here is an idea. If you dont like it then don’t go there. Stop wasting your time and move on
She is not wasting her time. She is educating society and if you don’t want to read it and educate yourself, stop wasting your time!
She is wasting her time, and a lot of other people’s time. You can take literally any food product and break it down into at least one tiny morsel of something that “may” be harmful for you. That goes the same for anything vegan, organic, etc. To each their own, and I applaud her time in calling this out. However, Starbucks has a fiduciary responsibility to its shareholders to increase profits and if that means saving a few dollars by using a little bit of HFCS instead of organic raw sugar then that is a choice they have to live with…and so will I as I sip their coffee. You see, there isn’t anything that I’m putting into my body from Starbucks that will drastically reduce my life expectancy, and if it did, that’s a choice I’m willing to make, one latte at a time.
Ahh, thank you, Bill Dye.
here’s an idea, if you don’t like this blog, don’t read it. stop wasting your time and move on.
food babe probably doesn’t go to starbucks but it doesn’t mean she can’t investigate and inform the world of her findings.
Ok… I think the lack of pumpkin in my coffee is good… Typically pumkin flavord means a spice blend that is used in pumpkin pie!!
Carmel color is the issue!! I sell a spice blend similar to pumpkin flavor only better!!
Krissy spice 4 life found in etsy.com site… Look me up to learn more.
Now talking about caramel coloring…. I was at New Seasons two days ago they were sampling a vinegret with caramel coloring!!!!
No good …. Even health food stores are not exempt frim the assault in our bodies.
I emoloy you to call them out on that and other products!!!
That’s disgusting I’ll never go there again
I have not eaten out at all I am boycotting all fast food chains.. how ever I do love pizza fusion thanks for letting us know about that and have switched to all organic thank you for all you do it is helping myself and my family and friends
Good article, and good research. But I take exception with one of your opening comments: “we have the right to know what we are eating and drinking”. It’s even in bold.
I’m sorry, you don’t have that right. You have a right to not do business with a company that won’t disclose their ingredients. You have a right to ask them, as you did. But you don’t have a right to know.
If you did have a right to know, then Starbucks would have an obligation to tell. This sounds good on the surface, but that kind of “right” turns Starbucks into a slave, requiring that they give you information against their will. This might seem minor, but this line of thought leads to things that destroy societies, such as the right to healthcare or the right to education. Any of these so-called “positive rights” turn other parties into your slaves. And that’s not what rights are all about.
Hi Vani-
Thanks for the information. I’m not surprised at the ingredients list, but it’s still sobering given that it’s their most popular seasonal drink.
For anyone in the greater Sacramento, CA area, Nugget Market offers a pumpkin latte made with actual pumpkin. Okay, it’s Libby’s pumpkin pie mix, so expect some sugar and “natural flavors” but if you want an alternative, they are pretty good, and probably with fewer additives by my guess. And there is actual pumpkin in it!
Does this mean the skinny Carmel lattes also have this same stuff in it??
Does this mean the skinny Carmel lattes have the same stuff in them?
Most of the “pumpkin spice” drinks and foods offered in the , or any time of year do NOT contain any pumpkin. What they contain are the spices that go into pumpkin pies, breads and cookies. So don’t expect to find pumpkin in your coffee, tea, creamers or beer. Instead, enjoy the “pumpkin spice”. You can even purchase pumpkin pie spice from just about any grocery store and sprinkle it ob your coffee grounds before brewing your coffee at home
There is no spice either in the latte as noted in the ingredient list above; just flavor images. The spice is sprinkled on the top.
Being surprised that a processed pumpkin drink from a chain coffee shop is kind if like being surprised that Apple Jacks aren’t made with apples.
The incidence of cancer in the US is going to double in the next five years and it’s not from genetic causes, according to the National Cancer Institute.
It’s from our air, water and food that’s causing cancer. We have no idea what is being put in the foods we love and the Food Babe is leading the charge in pointing out the hypocrisy of our governments lack of oversight by allowing big business to get away with using any food additives they want.
Thank-you Food Babe, I worked in the chemical field for 30 years and I know how corrupt the systems are.
…where did you pull that BS from? Not only does it say it’s going to go up by 57% (double would be 100%) in the next TWENTY years, it also says it’s mainly because of the growth of the aging population.
Cancer cases worldwide are predicted to increase by 70% over the next two decades, from 14m in 2012 to 25m new cases a year, according to the World Health Organisation.
These are conservative figures according to experts in that field.
I think this was a good article. Of course, I already know that Starbucks is trash anyways and never go there, but it was interesting to see all of what was in it. Good job Food Babe! Ignore all these salty haters who love their little Starbucks.
I am offended that you wasted this many resources, time, breath and manpower to put down something YOU don’t like. Get a life, start looking at the positive, and find a way to spread your message in a way that supports people’s life decisions instead of putting them, and a much loved company, down.
is this a real comment? YOU’RE offended that someone did the due diligence to allow people make their own informed decisions about what they put in their body? Why don’t YOU take a piece of your own advice and help support people’s informed choices. If you still want to drink a Starbucks whatever after reading this piece, then go for it — but don’t get on your high horse that someone said some true things in a “tone” you don’t like about a mediocre company.
Well said Yep, I agree with you. thank you so much Vani for taking the & effort to investigate this so we can make informed decisions even if the are different to others,
Things that don’t surprise me: Drinks that are artificially flavored and don’t have the real thing in it. News flash: this is common practice and Starbucks didn’t start it.
Bravo, Vani! Even the celebrity blogger Perez Hilton wrote an article about you!!
Starbucks, don’t be surprised if your stocks plummet this fall. You’re going down!
I’m all for food labeling. I do wonder, though, how many of the women reading your article are also popping a Class 1 carcinogen every day, or 21 days a month, otherwise known as birth control pills. Considering that the government mandates coverage for these drugs, I’m far more concerned with the level of carcinogens in birth control pills, shots, an implants than I am with the ingredients in a luxury item like coffee. Maybe you are worried about both- I know I am!
it would take 3 seconds to ask a barista for the syrup container. It has the ingredients on it.
All you people know how to do is b**** and complain! Starbucks is not bad for you, and besides what ever you eat these days is nothing compared this!! If you don’t like it don’t drink it!! The sun is bad for you, so stop going outside!!! Lol ridiculous people
Starbucks isn’t bad for you? True, if you get plain coffee or tea without any additives. Otherwise, their extensive drink menu is nothing but sugar, empty calories and artificial ingredients. Like the post says, the grande PSL has 50 grams of sugar. The daily recommended intake for women is 25 grams of sugar TOTAL. So if you want to consume twice that amount with ONE DRINK, by all means, go ahead.
Don’t know why so many people are being disrespectful about this post when all she’s trying to do is raise awareness about the truth. Easy to say it won’t affect you until it does.
I was looking at thenStarbuck’s recipe mix one day, don’t ask me why, it was just out at my Starbucks, and all the recipes called for “UBM”. What is UBM? It is Universal Beverage Mix. Who knows what is in that? This is why I only get coffee.
I work at Starbucks and that is not true. There is no such thing as “Universal Beverage Mix”
Am I the only one who isn’t at all shocked that a Pumpkin Spice Latte isn’t vegan, even with the soy milk? Starbucks seems like one of those things that will have to go if you make the choice to be vegan.
^ exactly… Just changing the milk doesn’t change all of the ingredients. -_-
I work for a big coffee company (*wink wink*) and I have to say, our drinks are TERRIBLE for you. The smallest size vanilla bean frappuccino (yes, the ones your kids get) have more sugar than a can of coke. VEGANS: Our fraps (even with soy) are NOT vegan. Save yourself the chemicals and get a decent cup of coffee from a local shop.
Well of course it isn’t real pumpkin, and has coloring in it. Have you had a pumpkin latte with real pumpkin? I have, the texture makes it disgusting. Also, why would you be going to Starbucks if you are vegan? Or ordering a pumpkin pie spice latte? There is condensed milk in pumpkin pie.
Great information. Thank you for taking the time to research and inform the public on the dangers of toxic chemicals in our food…. Would you happen to have any info on toxic chemicals found in synthetic dietary supplements? I would greatly appreciate this… God bless all your endeavors!
…. if you look at the outline spice latte on the Starbucks website, it does say if you have any concerns you can ask the barista what the ingredients are… Perhaps if you went into an actual Starbucks instead of making a half way attempt through phone call and emails, in order to publish them online for your own grandstanding you would have known sooner.
They can’t provide nutritional information for every beverage customization? That’s funny, the last time I went in there (against my better judgement) and ordered a drink I was told they couldn’t customize it because they just used a standard recipe for every drink.
If you have to lie to make your point, you have lost the argument.
Hello as a Starbucks employee I must say I have some issues with the generalization of this. I have worked for the company almost 5 years and, as a Partner with a lactose diary allergy I always make sure to inform any customer of any of our products that contain dairy and or any other allergens. I also never have refused a customer to look at any of our products ingredients. Perhaps maybe it is just the locations you choose to go but please do not generalize and say ALL Starbucks do this.
Respectfully thank you
It’s a free society, If you don’t like all “crap” that is in their latte, DONT BUY ONE!!
We have to know what’s in it in order to make an informed decision. Duh. If you don’t care what’s in the food/products you put in your body that’s fine. Most intelligent people do and that’s why we come here to find out the truth. IMO, Starbucks stinks – for many reasons – and my family never buys from them or their products sold in grocery stores. Way to go, Food Babe! Keep up your awesome work and thanks a million!
to DeeDee…don’t buy coffee at all…it all has the bad compound 4-Mel in it if you read the entire article…
The American food system is so corrupt by money and the greed fueling it won’t go away unless someone with the power to correct these things actually will do their job *coughFDAcough*
Chemicals for the sake of more hands in the coffer while naturally foods already have what they need until they strip them and add their own inferior ingredients…
Too long!!! Geez, cut to the chase and spare the readers all the banter. You’d probably be more effective if you’d say what you gotta say and stop. You could’ve made your point in an ingredient list and paragraph.
I don’t think that Starbucks is trying to hide the ingredients in anything that they serve. I think that the run around that you received is due to the fact that the companies that Starbucks hires to deal with questions and complaints are full of idiots! I’m a barista and if you had asked me what was in the pumpkin spice latte, I would have given the exact same response. Now if you asked for the ingredients in actual pumpkin spice syrup, I would have grabbed a bottle and let you knock yourself out! Read it, write it down, take a picture, whatever! People ask for the ingredients in specific syrups all the time, and they are all bad, but we don’t hide them. If it were a big corporate secret, it wouldn’t be printed on the bottle. None of the drinks at Starbucks are good for you, nor is the food. But then again, people don’t go to Starbucks for healthy, nutritious food, do they?
Thank you Food Babe for all you do!
Let’s all go to Dunkin Donuts instead. Their pumpkin swirl ice coffee is divine! And cheaper! Oh, wait a minute…let’s take all the enjoyment out of that too…
Wait. Are you not at all concerned about the phytoestrogens in the soy milk? My chiropractor told me that’s really bad, too.
No company will tell any customer, and usually won’t tell their own employees their recipe. It’s called a “trade secret,” which is a recognized form of intellectual property.
And after reading some of what’s in this drink, how is anyone surprised? I could have told you that it’s full of garbage, but it’s yet to kill anyone. And if one is on a diet, watching calories, or worried about carbs, Starbucks ain’t the place to be, anyway.
Why can’t people just enjoy life?
Oh god that sounds good! I can’t wait until I can go out and have one! Seriously, just inject it into my veins.
Seriously, everyone reading this is going to die. I can understand if you want to spend your life being chaste so you can feel superior to everyone else. Me, I intend to live it.
Can I say “my body, my choice” or does that only apply to the murder of unborn children and women?
OMG chemicals I might die!!!!!
Just don’t patronize Starbucks. Pretty simple.
“Pesticide residue” on non-organic coffee beans. You do realize, of course that organic coffee growers use pesticides as well. They just aren’t made from chemicals. However, we know from, you know, science that nature has plenty of deadly chemical compounds.
The pesticide residues on non organic (and organic for that matter) would all but be completely obliterated in the flash roasting method that Starbucks uses. Knowledge is power.
Okay, so are pesticides chemicals or not? Because you contradicted yourself. There’s a good argument to be made that organic pesticides exist and are still chemicals, but speaking in chemistry terms, caffeine is a chemical, as are sugar and water. It’s fine to state facts, but it’s not okay to act like a know-it-all, especially when you’re using a flawed argument.
I work at Starbucks, and our beans are organic, so pesticides is at least one ingredient on there that is wrong. Makes me question other information in this article. As a barista it is safe to say if you stick to basic espresso drinks, regular coffee, or water, you wont get fat…
OK folks, such hate here, do you eat pumpkin pie? You’re eating the same stuff as starbucks. Do you think the Libby’s or other brand of pie filling is vegan or natural? Think again. While I appreciate all that Vani is doing, it looks more and more like she is just a vehicle to promote these so-called healthier brands of food. There is more hazardous materials in what we breathe every day than in what we eat and it’s all going to kill us eventually, being rabidly focused on a specific company for an ingredient they use is non productive, instead, how about going after the company that makes the ingredient.
Bunch of poop. God bless Strbucks
MMM! YUMMY TOXIC SLUDGE! 50 Grams of processed sugar, to be hyped up on all day!! Includes cancer agents too! MMM!! Pesticide ridden coffee! Oh Super Sweet High Fructose Corn Syrup! How delish! The stuff makes you super fat! GMO’s OH MY! Can’t damn wait to get addicted to this for life! This coffee is made with love…loving corporate greed Aww..Where’s the nearest Starbucks?! That’s what you all sound like. It’s not the end of the world, people. Just make the same damn thing at home!? Taste the healthy difference! What’s so scary about that?!
Would you serve their toxic sludge to your kids? Seriously, go and make it the way they do, using the same ingredients, & just about the same processes, & you’ll already see. Oh gosh…I don’t wanna put all this now in my coffee! Then, you’ll think, this should just be coffee, & milk..right?! Parents, (should) lead by example. You prevent your kids from looking/wanting sugary snacks, but yet, mommy & daddy can have a big ole’ cup of 50 grams of sugar! In just ONE cup!
GROSS!! DAMMIT!! Why don’t you just put 50 grams of sugar in a cup of water, & get it over with! Save yourselves more of your money, & trouble. No need for Starbucks! You guys, actually remind me of the “drugged out on sugar” little kids from candy commercials. That are so riddled with sugar, you’re teeth might as well fall out after one bite! Lol but knowing you sugar fiends, even if that happened to you, you’ll just start munching on your piles of sugar, with your gums. Lol, “NOM, NOM, NOM, SUGAR! SUGAR! SUGAR!” Lol, Ewww…Smiling big with no teeth, and blackened gums. Who cares, right?! As long as NO ONE talks bad about precious Starbucks. While you & your poor uninformed kids, suffer from Obesity, Cancer, Diabetes, depression, be in hospital debt, suicide….Unbelievable.
Don’t be a slave to anything! Vani is your drug counselor. Please listen to her, so MY foods can be healthy too! Don’t be corporate suckers! Too much of anything is bad for you. Don’t you all, AT LEAST know THAT much?! Just think: If you had a food product to sell, & you wanted to make your customers blindingly addicted to your product, out of selfish greed, what would you put in it? Would you put healthy stuff in it?! No. SUGARRRR….Then guess what..Add MORE sugar..(High Fructose Corn Syrup) So guess what kind of foods, these food companies sell MORE of….JUNK FOOOOD! That’s right kiddies! Cause they could CARE LESS about your health! You’re only a walking wallet. Please stop drinking this toxic sludge!
Thank you for educating me about the chemical soup that purports to be “food.” Our big corporations are evasive and clever and use “corpspeak” to supply non answers to direct questions. I wouldn’t touch this Starbucks goop with a ten foot pole. Why do people willingly put carcinogens in their bodies? No one would ever put sugar in their car’s gas tank. Our bodies are thousands of times more complex.
Maybe if you had been purchasing the organic milk lattes, Starbuck would still use the organic milk. Where were you before 2008 when that option was available?
I had to comment on the completely idiocy that is the last bit of your response. What do car engines have to do with our bodies? Sugar ruins a car engine, but you need sugar to function. There’s tons of sugar (Glucose mostly) being used by your body right this second. If nothing else at least take a high school biology class before you spout nonsense.
Really? Everything is america is processed at some point… grown chemically at some point. Plants, Animals, all biologically enhanced. I’m sorry this may the most ignorant need for attention I have ever seen. My pappaw, 99, eats Hardees every damn day, and has ate like that for years and years. And until you make it to 99, all this warning crap needs to just stop. It’s useless.
Just because most companies do it doesn’t make it okay. Actually, the fact that it is happening on such a large scale is outrageous and terrifying.
Put artificial hormones and chemicals into your body is NOT a good thing to do, no matter how lucky someone has gotten by doing so. Furthermore, it is ruining the earth and creating a massive mess that will eventually catch up to you.
There is a natural system in place, and believe it or not, organic farming is not only possible but MUCH better for all involved. I raise chickens and cattle that free-range in the warmer months and get natural grains and hay (no pesticides) in the winter and they are not only healthier themselves, but the meat tastes so much better AND is better for those who eat it.
But go ahead and eat what you want. When you have high cholesterol or diabetes or even cancer maybe you’ll think twice about what you put into your body – of course, by then it will be too late and you’ll likely be in denial anyhow.
Who freaking cares?
If you don’t care, get off the website and don’t waste space with your useless comments.
Does ANYONE test the ink on the outside of the packages in which we receive hot liquids and our sodas? Is it regulated? Any company/country could place toxic chemicals in this ink and poison a huge portion of the population. Details: when the cup is printed, the ink is minimally dried, then the cup is stacked within another cup. This is repeated for every cup manufactured, so every cup you drink from has that ink rubbed-off on the inside surface. In storage and transit, rubbing chafes-off the ink onto the cup’s inside surface. This ink could contain anything – especially if the ink comes from another country. Many companies fill their cup exteriors with advertising, so infusion with the drink liquid can be significant.
Do companies like Starbucks and fastfood chains certify the ink used on all their cups is food-grade? If not, then we may have a problem we don’t even see.