It’s not often I weigh in on fads like the unicorn frappucino trend. I mean, I get it, the world is shit at the moment and if we can add a little colour and joy to our food and drink then why not.
There’s nothing WHATSOEVER magical about the amount sugar and other toxic ingredients in these drinks.
As someone who champions balance (I love my cake and wine too much not too) and who tries to avoid being holier than thou on this blog (there are way too many blogs telling you to eat more kale and have no fun already) I just cannot get on board with these beverages.
But whilst the unicorn frappucino may be an instagrammers dream, the reality is far from it. Starbucks describe this “drink” as being…
Magical flavors start off sweet and fruity transforming to pleasantly sour. Swirl it to reveal a color-changing spectacle of purple and pink. It’s finished with whipped cream-sprinkled pink and blue fairy powders.
Sounds great right? And then you come to the ingredient list…
Ice, Milk, Crème Frappuccino Syrup [Water, Sugar, Salt, Natural And Artificial Flavor, Xanthan Gum, Potassium Sorbate, Citric Acid], Whipped Cream [Cream (Cream, Mono And Diglycerides, Carageenan), Vanilla Syrup (Sugar, Water, Natural Flavors, Potassium Sorbate, Citric Acid)], Mango Syrup [Sugar, Water, Mango Juice Concentrate, Natural Flavor, Passion Fruit Juice Concentrate, Citric Acid, Potassium Sorbate, Turmeric, Gum Arabic], Blue Drizzle [White Chocolate Mocha Sauce (Sugar, Condensed Skim Milk, Coconut Oil, Cocoa Butter, Natural Flavor, Salt, Potassium Sorbate, Monoglycerides), Classic Syrup (Sugar, Water, Natural Flavors, Potassium Sorbate, Citric Acid), Sour Blue Powder (Citric Acid, Color [Spirulina, Water, Sugar, Maltodextrin, Citric Acid])], Pink Powder [Dextrose, Fruit And Vegetable Color (Apple, Cherry, Radish, Sweet Potato)], Sour Blue Powder [Citric Acid, Color (Spirulina, Water, Sugar, Maltodextrin, Citric Acid)].
^ All this, in one drink.
But you know the most shocking part? It’s not the ingredients, it’s the SUGAR.
ONE Venti Unicorn Frappucino made with whole milk and whipped cream has a whopping 76 GRAMS of sugar. Yes, you read that right! 76g!
That’s the equivalent of 19 teaspoons of sugar or 2 + 1/2 standard Mars Bars. According to Refinery29 the unicorn frappucino has more sugar content than SIX Krispy Kreme doughnuts (and that’s in the small drink).
As a woman, one of these drinks would take you 3 times over your daily recommended sugar intake. So imagine how many times over the limit a child would be by drinking this? And it’s children who are going to flock to this drink!
That level of sugar will never be pretty! And one of these drinks isn’t going to kill you but its not going to make you feel very well either. And I suppose what really gets my back up with drinks like this is the appeal it has to children, I mean, what kid wouldn’t want a multi-colour drink that was topped off with magical dust?
It’s a timely reminder that it’s time to start giving a shit about what we’re taking in and being aware that if you order one of these type of drinks (because don’t get me wrong, the unicorn frappe isn’t the worst offender on menus across the world – it’s not even the worst offender in Starbucks) then you’re going to be overdosing on sugar that you don’t need and that your body is going to pay for.
So tell me, does knowing how much sugar is in this drink put you off purchasing one?
