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RFK Jr. blasted Dunkin’ for selling sugary drinks. Which menu items fit his criteria?
Is your go-to Dunkin’ order on the list?
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. incurred the wrath of Gov. Maura Healey and other Dunkin’ diehards recently when he took aim at the coffee chain’s sugary menu items.
“We’re going to ask Dunkin’ Donuts and Starbucks, ‘Show us the safety data that show that it’s OK for a teenage girl to drink an iced coffee with 115 grams of sugar in it,’” Kennedy said during a Feb. 26 “Eat Real Food” rally in Texas. “I don’t think they’re gonna be able to do it.”
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After Healey replied with a meme goading him to “come and take it,” Kennedy doubled down.
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“No one is taking away your Dunkin’,” he wrote on X. “But isn’t it reasonable to ask whether a drink loaded with 180 grams of sugar is safe?”
Exactly how many menu items fit Kennedy’s criteria? While none of the beverages listed on Dunkin’s nutrition guide meet or exceed 180 grams of sugar, several come close.
The large sizes for the Butter Pecan Swirl Frozen Coffee with skim milk and the Caramel Creme Frozen Coffee each contain 172 total grams — the highest sugar content on Dunkin’s beverage menu. In all, 40 drinks on the menu meet Kennedy’s original 115-gram benchmark, all of them “frozen” or blended beverages.
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Dunkin’s standard fare is generally lower in sugar, especially for coffee drinkers who take their morning joe without sweetener. Still, a large hot or iced regular — that’s cream and sugar, for the uninitiated — clocks in at 36 grams.
For the record, the American Heart Association recommends men consume no more than 36 grams of added sugar per day, or nine teaspoons. For women, the AHA recommends no more than 25 grams, or six teaspoons.
While the American Academy of Pediatrics has said children 2 years of age or older should consume no more than 25 grams of added sugar per day, updated federal nutrition guidance released earlier this year recommends no added sugar for children younger than 11. The revamped food pyramid is part of Kennedy’s crusade against “highly processed foods.”
Below, find the Dunkin’ drinks that contain 115 grams of sugar or more:
- Butter Pecan Swirl Frozen Coffee (large, with skim milk): 172g sugar
- Caramel Creme Frozen Coffee (large): 172g sugar
- Butter Pecan Swirl Frozen Coffee (large, with whole milk): 171g sugar
- Butter Pecan Swirl Frozen Coffee (large, with cream): 168g sugar
- Vanilla Bean Coolatta® (large): 167g sugar
- Triple Mocha Frozen Coffee (large): 165g sugar
- Caramel Swirl Frozen Chocolate (large): 165g sugar
- Butter Pecan Swirl Frozen Chocolate (large): 162g sugar
- French Vanilla Swirl Frozen Chocolate (large): 162g sugar
- Caramel Swirl Frozen Coffee (large, with skim milk): 162g sugar
- Caramel Swirl Frozen Coffee (large, with whole milk): 162g sugar
- French Vanilla Swirl Frozen Coffee (large, with skim milk): 160g sugar
- French Vanilla Swirl Frozen Coffee (large, with whole milk): 160g sugar
- Frozen Chocolate (large): 158g sugar
- Caramel Swirl Frozen Coffee (large, with cream): 158g sugar
- Mocha Swirl Frozen Coffee (large, with skim milk): 157g sugar
- French Vanilla Swirl Frozen Coffee (large, with cream): 156g sugar
- Mocha Swirl Frozen Coffee (large, with whole milk): 156g sugar
- Mocha Swirl Frozen Coffee (large, with cream): 153g sugar
- Banana Frozen Chocolate (large): 146g sugar
- Caramel Creme Frozen Coffee (medium): 132g sugar
- Butter Pecan Swirl Frozen Coffee (medium, with skim milk): 129g sugar
- Butter Pecan Swirl Frozen Coffee (medium, with whole milk): 129g sugar
- Frozen Chai Latte (large): 129g sugar
- Caramel Swirl Frozen Chocolate (medium): 126g sugar
- Butter Pecan Swirl Frozen Coffee (medium, with cream): 126g sugar
- Triple Mocha Frozen Coffee (medium): 126g sugar
- Vanilla Bean Coolatta® (medium): 125g sugar
- Butter Pecan Swirl Frozen Chocolate (medium): 124g sugar
- French Vanilla Swirl Frozen Chocolate (medium): 124g sugar
- Caramel Swirl Frozen Coffee (medium, with skim milk): 122g sugar
- Caramel Swirl Frozen Coffee (medium, with whole milk): 122g sugar
- Frozen Chocolate (medium): 121g sugar
- French Vanilla Swirl Frozen Coffee (medium, with skim milk): 120g sugar
- French Vanilla Swirl Frozen Coffee (medium, with whole milk): 120g sugar
- Caramel Swirl Frozen Coffee (medium, with cream): 119g sugar
- Mocha Swirl Frozen Coffee (medium, with skim milk): 118g sugar
- French Vanilla Swirl Frozen Coffee (medium, with cream): 117g sugar
- Mocha Swirl Frozen Coffee (medium, with whole milk): 117g sugar
- Mocha Swirl Frozen Coffee (medium, with cream): 115g sugar
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