The Daily Telegraph reports…
“The two best-known coffee chains are selling drinks with more than 100 per cent of the recommended intake of sugar or saturated fat – and 800 times the kilojoules of a long black – but customers have no idea because both are failing in their policies for providing dietary information.
The revelations come as international research that shows daily consumption of any of nearly 100 menu items sold by Gloria Jeans and Starbucks can lead to gaining almost 10kg a year.
Worryingly, the most decadent of the new wave of cold, cream-laden chocolate and coffee concoctions contains four times the energy researchers say may cause such a weight increase.
Nutritionists and dietitians said more had to be done to make information available to the 10 million-plus people who consume drinks from the chains each month.
They were responding to a Daily Telegraph investigation that revealed:
* A REGULAR-SIZE Gloria Jeans Mocha Chiller Coco Loco packs 95.5g of sugar, which is 106 per cent of an adult’s recommended daily intake. A large has 129g of sugar, or 143 per cent of the RDI;
* A LARGE Starbucks Signature hot chocolate with cream contains 24.3g of saturated fat, or 101 per cent of the RDI; and
* A LARGE Gloria Jeans iced chocolate with whipped cream has 3260kJ – the same as 815 long blacks. It would take more than three hours of bike-riding to use up this amount of energy.
Sampling the Gloria Jeans Mocha Chiller Coco Loco yesterday, Newcastle university student Laura Croger was horrified when told about the beverage’s sugar content.
“It tastes all right but not after you told me how much sugar and kilojoules are in it,” she said.
Her friend Nicola Evans tried the Gloria Jeans iced chocolate with whipped cream, which she said left a “fatty, greasy” taste in her mouth.
The Daily Telegraph also found that both chains’ stores were unable to provide nutritional information on request. On request Gloria Jeans staff are supposed to look up dietary information on a special site for franchisees, then advise the customer.
Starbucks outlets are meant to keep brochures behind the counter. None had them. That said, Starbucks provides nutritional information on its website and staff did direct The Daily Telegraph to the website.
Gloria Jeans does not have any information on its public site.
Dietitian Melanie McGrice said chains should have to provide such information in brochures in stores.”
From http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/coffee-hit-to-the-heart/story-e6freuy9-1225789034447
So the only thing the megachurches remotely had going for them now bites the dust…mind you, I figure people know deep down how unhealthy those great-tasting shakes are (though maybe not so great-tasting in GJ’s case according to the testimony of the person in the article)…still, I haven’t frequented Gloria Jeans on principle (don’t want my bux going to the Hillsong coffers)…