NO MORE DUNKIN DONUTS COOLATTAS FOR ME!

Ok, so thankfully I am not a big drinker of the Dunkin Donuts Coolatta. I was years ago when it came out, but eventually I decided it tastes gross with skim milk and it had to be way too much cream (FAT) to be in any way excusable.

Then there are the fruit coolattas, better option, but how much sugar must they have?

The fact is though that in the summer months I would treat myself to a lemonade coolatta or two and probably one or two coffee coolattas. Not bad right? Well, I was assuming it was lemonade and ice and coffee and ice...

I learned a valuable lesson tonight though kids!

I walked into Dunkin donuts at around 1am (the 24-hour one on Gallivan Blvd. in Dorchester). As you can imagine, the place was hardly hopping and the people behind the counter had been doing some "chores". I noticed five or six half gallon cardboard containers resembling milk cartons. When I read the label though it was something called NEUTRAL BASE.

HMMM! What the hell is that I wondered? Definitely not milk!

What better way to find out than to read the ingredients. So, I read on...High Fructose Corn Syrup, Sugar, Propylene Glycol, Malic Acid, Sodium Benzoate (Preservative), Cellulose Gum... HMMMM...

Here is where the concern started for me.

When I have read all of the ingredients on a FOOD product and still have no friggin' idea what it is, that can't be healthy! So, I asked the woman "what is this used for?"

She told me it was the base for the coolattas. EEEEWWW! She explained that was the fruit coolattas, but went on to say it would be similar ingredients in the coffee coolatta base. That was it. That was what did it. I will not only never drink another coolatta, but I will never again ASSUME that a frozen beverage is real coffee and ice. I will always ask! I have asked at Starbucks and it is not a mix. I don't know why it never occurred to me to ask at Dunkins. Perhaps it is because I was drinking them back before I cared about these things.

I announced to the woman that I would not be drinking anymore coolattas. She laughed and agreed with me, however the man seemed defensive, announcing that everything was on their web site, like I was accusing him of keeping a deep dark secret. I explained to him that I was not accusing them of pulling one over on me, and that it had simply never occurred to me that an unidentifiable mostly chemical substance was at the root of the frozen treat! I am pretty sure he thought I was a nut, but I am sure nuts are common-place in there at 1:30am, so I was not offended in the least.

I got home around 3am and being unable to sleep I turned to my computer and looked up that Dunkins web site. For those of you that are curious, I asked earlier HOW MUCH SUGAR MUST THERE BE IN A FRUIT COOLATTA? Well! I have the answer! A 16 oz. Lemonade Coolatta from Dunkins has 56 grams of sugar and 59 grams of carbs! WOW! NO fiber, NO protein...in essence NO NUTRITIONAL VALUE! On the upside there is no fat, but it is 240 calories!

What about the Coffee Coolatta? I am glad you asked! It is 350 calories (that is a meal), 22 grams of fat, 40 grams of carbs and 35 grams of sugar. I don't know about you, but I have a hard time justifying eating a cereal with 13 grams of sugar in a serving. More than the fat and sugar though, I don't like the idea of all those chemical ingredients and that is the base for the beverage.

YUCK!

As some of you know, I love to read about food, be it recipes, food reviews or nutrition. Some of you will not appreciate this and go on to drink your coolattas and I genuinely hope you enjoy them! Others of you will be annoyed at me for giving you info you prefer not to know, but I am not trying to lecture in any way. I simply stepped in this info today and am fascinated. I for one will never assume again. Hell, I even asked them if in fact my latte was espresso and milk. It was! PHEWW! I will stick to my basic coffee beverage! Some of you would argue that is very unhealthy too, but at least I know what I am consuming! Thankfully I have not had a coolatta this year, I am still drinking hot coffee -- I have yet to have even switch to iced! I like hot coffee best. It is soothing to me for some reason.

And for those of you thinking, hey crazy lady, perhaps that medium espresso beverage is the reason you are ranting about sugar and fat and cellulose gum at 3am. Well, you are wrong! I could drink coffee all day long and still go to sleep. I WISH caffeine had the effect of keeping me awake...no such luck!

I want to thank you for humoring me in my little rant about chemical consumption! I hope you are all well and will have a wonderful weekend!