Wednesday, January 03, 2007

Starbucks Removes Trans Fat But Keeps All the Sugar


I had to laugh this morning when listening to Artie Lange of the Howard Stern Show talk about his New Year's Resolution to stop drinking soda. Stern and Co. were behind the bloated funnyman's attempt to clean up his eating habits until it came to light that he was replacing the carbonated soft drinks with equally calorie packed drinks like Hawaiian Punch and Nestle's Quik.

For the corporate version of this tale check out this article touting a move by Starbucks to remove trans fat from their cakes, cookies and muffins in ten cities. (The removal will eventually go into effect across the country.)

Frankly, I don't think it should be up to eateries to police the eating habits of their customers. If people are stupid enough to exist on a steady diet of fat- and calorie-laden doughnuts, muffins, danish and other fast food that's their problem. Why ruin it for the rest of us that might have a little self control and can eat a Starbucks Cream Cheese Danish once every few months as a treat?

But the funniest part for me is that while I won't be able to get a Cream Cheese Danish (currently 590 calories, 34 grams of fat, 7 grams trans fat) I'll still be able to walk in any Starbucks in the country and get a Venti Carmel Frappucino with its 530 calories, 17 grams of fat and .5 grams of trans fat. Want a different kind of Starbucks eye opener? Visit the company's nutrition information page, find your favorite drink and start adding up how much you're taking in each week.

For more on Starbucks addiction check out this article.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I thought the exact same thing.