Pumpkin Spice Lattes are Here!

7:29 PM Jo 0 Comments

The 2015 pumpkin spice lattes are officially here! Who's excited?!? I know I am!
Of course we have all heard about Starbuck changing their formula this year. Personally, I am all for it. It has more natural ingredients, but that doesn't necessarily make it healthy. I was very excited to hear that REAL pumpkin was going into it. I don't get the argument that it is a pumpkin "SPICE" latte and not a "PUMKIN" latte. Cause, um, it is a PUMPKIN SPICE latte, not a spice latte (I do understand why those who are vegan are upset because now they cannot have the drink since it contains milk in the syrup). I have tried a sip of the new Starbucks one when my mom got it. It does taste a bit different but I like it! And I love how it has less sugar than Caribou's. Caribou's Pumpkin Spice Latte is much sweeter and I have always loved it until I found out it has almost as much sugar as THREE sodas. I will limit the number of those I get this year. So let's compare the nutrition on these two drinks for your average medium/grande drink with 2% milk and whip.

STARBUCKS
Calories: 380
Fat: 14g
Sugars: 50g
Sodium: 240mg
Protein: 14g
Cholesterol: 55mg

CARIBOU
Calories: 730
Fat: 32g
Sugars: 89g
Sodium: 200mg
Protein: 12g
Cholesterol: 85mg

As we can clearly see, Starbucks is the "healthier" version of the two, but still has 50g of sugar. An average soda has 35g, so still an exorbitantly high amount of sugar. They both have their pros and cons, Caribou's tasting a bit sweeter and Starbucks being healthier. I will for sure enjoy both this season though.

The ingredients for the new PSL, Pumpkin Spice Latte at Starbucks are listed below:

• Espresso
• Milk 
• Pumpkin Spice Flavored Sauce (Sugar, Condensed Skim Milk, Pumpkin Puree, Contains 2% or Less of Fruit and Vegetable Juice for Color, Natural Flavors, Annatto (Color), Potassium Sorbate (Preservative), Salt)

• Whipped Cream (Light Whipping Cream [Cream, Mono and Diglycerides, Carrageenan])
• Starbucks Vanilla Syrup (Sugar, Water, Natural Flavors, Potassium Sorbate (Preservative), Citric Acid)
• Pumpkin Spice Topping (Cinnamon, Ginger, Nutmeg, Clove)