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Why your flavored coffee is slowly killing you…
Ok, that may sound like an extreme headline.. but hear me out…
Let’s take a look at what you’re actually consuming when you order that Grande Cinnamon Caramel Cream Cold Brew from Starbucks that looks oh so refreshing.
Let’s take a look at what you’re actually consuming when you order that Grande Cinnamon Caramel Cream Cold Brew from Starbucks that looks oh so refreshing.
So you think ok it’s just:
Cold brew coffee
Cinnamon caramel flavor syrup
Sweet Cream Foam
But here’s the kicker.. look at this laundry list of crap in the ingredients…
The only safe ingredient in this entire latte is the iced coffee itself.
On top of that, check out the nutrition facts. Specifically, the sugar content.
There are 32 grams of sugar which equals 7 2/3 teaspoons! That’s almost 8 full spoonfuls of sugar in a coffee drink!! Would you eat 8 spoonfuls of sugar in your kitchen on your own? I certainly hope not 🙂
So let’s say you want to reduce the sugar so you remove the Cinnamon Sweet Cream and the Cinnamon Dolce Topping.
If you’re like me, I used to order my lattes or coffee with a pump or two of flavoring… thinking I was in the clear until I realized these flavored syrups are all trash too.
Let’s look at one of the most common flavored syrup brands used in cafes across the globe, Torani.
With over 150 flavors and a global reach, there’s a good chance you have had a coffee drink that had Torani in it at some point. Major coffee chains down to mom and pop shops often use Torani as their syrup of choice, proudly displaying the syrup bottles behind their counter.
Torani is often regarded as the most flavourful syrup on the planet.
But there is a price to pay for that flavor, and that cost is in our health.
Torani syrups are extremely unhealthy, earning it a 1 leaf rating at Is It Clean, the lowest score possible.
Let’s take Torani Caramel flavor for example:
The ingredients are Pure cane sugar, water, natural flavors, citric acid, sodium benzoate, potassium sorbate (to preserve freshness), caramel color.
The only health promoting ingredient on that list is water. The rest are harmful to the body.
Sodium Benzoate for example can break down into benzene, a known carcinogen.
Natural flavors can lead to a host of problems for the body AND can be highly addictive.
Caramel Color manufacturing can lead to the product of a carcinogen, methylimidazole, that is known to cause cancer.
Potassium Sorbate, in recent studies, has been shown to be a genotoxic and mutagenic compound to human blood cells, meaning it can lead to DNA damage and changes that can cause diseases and certain cancers.
Citric Acid is typically manufactured for commercial applications through fermentation using the fungus Aspergillus niger (a type of black mold and known allergen) and molasses. Since it was approved before 1958, it hasn’t been extensively evaluated for safety. Pfizer has been producing citric acid since 1919.
The sugar free syrups are even worse. Torani typically uses sucralose and acesulfame potassium as their artificial sweeteners. Studies have shown that Acesulfame potassium (Ace-K) can have major negative effects on the body’s metabolism and cognition. Studies have shown that Sucralose can decrease insulin sensitivity in the body and can potentially produce toxic chemicals in the body.
*While big chains like Starbucks and Dunkin Donuts have their own flavored syrup, as you can see above in the Starbucks ingredient label, it has all the same shit.
We suggest staying away from Torani syrups (and Starbucks and Dunkin) and instead looking for coffee shops that use homemade syrups or simply the extract of the flavor like vanilla extract and caramel extract. If neither of those are options, it’s better to go without the sweeteners and flavoring for your coffee drinks.
Substitutes: Ask for raw honey, maple syrup, or cinnamon as a substitute for the syrups.
Every time we choose not to buy something that has harmful ingredients, we are sending a message to the food industry that we won’t accept these ingredients anymore.
We vote with our purchase, and we can change the food industry one purchase at a time!
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Big love from Ally, Christian, and the IsItClean Team