5 Candies With Less Sugar Than a Grande Starbucks Chestnut Praline Latte
Starbucks debuted its Chestnut Praline Latte this week, “the first new holiday handcrafted beverage in five years,’’ and the newest addition to the coffee chain’s seasonal lineup has created quite a stir.
(See what I did there?)
The luscious mix of espresso, steamed milk, and flavors of caramalized chestnuts and spices (as it’s described on the Starbucks website) has been likened to a melted Ferrero Rocher chocolate. One Twitter user even went as far as to say call it a blend of Christmas and heaven in liquid form.
After trying the CPL, EatThis.com noted, “For a group of health food nerds drinking a sugar-spiked latte, the consensus was overwhelmingly positive when it came to flavor.’’
But what goes into the dreamy drink?
Sugar, and lots of it. As much sugar as a can of Coke, to be precise.
We checked out the nutrition facts of the newest Starbucks seasonal offerings and compared them to some popular candy choices. Let’s be clear: We’re not recommending you eat the candy (or drink the latte). But you should know what’s in your treats.
Here’s the breakdown on what you could eat to match the sugar intake in the sweet drinkable treat.
Grande CPL Nutrition Facts
Tootsie Rolls
A single serving of small Tootsies, the ones typically given out on Halloween or kept in candy bowls, amounts to less than half the calories inside a grande cup of Starbucks’ latest latte creation.
If you were to eat 12 midges (the baby Tootsie Rolls), you’d still have consumed less fat (6g) and sugar (38g) than you would by drinking just one grande Chestnut Praline Latte.
Sour Patch Kids
The movie theater favorite turns from sour to sweet, but the sugar you’d digest by consuming a serving (56 grams) of Sour Patch Kids is still less than the Chestnut Praline Latte’s sugar quantity.
Sour Patch Kids are mostly made up of a few types of sugar and food coloring, so the nutrition label is virtually blank, save for 52 grams of carbohydrates (36 grams of sugar).
Twizzlers
Eight Twizzlers or a Chestnut Praline Latte? You’d be consuming less sugar by having the Twizzlers, if only by a gram.
If you switch out the latte’s standard 2% milk for nonfat, though, the latte would win on the fat scale: Eight individual strawberry twists contain 1 gram of fat.
Starburst
A serving of original flavor Starburst is supposed to be 8 pieces or 40 grams, but there are 58.7 grams of candy in a sleeve of the fruit chews.
If you have enough willpower to stick to the serving size, you’ll come in way under the amount of sugar in the Chestnut Praline Latte (23 grams). By our math, though, if you eat the whole sleeve, you’ll have consumed just about as much sugar as there is in a grande cup of espresso-powered goodness.
Haribo Gold-Bears
Sometimes, mindlessly eating gummi bears is the best medicine — especially when you’re considering a choice between the chewy treats or a CPL.
Fans of sweets can indulge in TWO whole 5 oz. bags of Haribo Gold-Bears and consume less sugar (38 grams) than in Starbucks’ drink.
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