We used to know where we stood with our frozen drinks:
A milkshake was a stand-in for an ice cream dessert when you didn’t feel like a cone.
Smoothies were a nutritious meal replacement for the health and fitness crowd.
Slushies were strictly for the playground set.
Now it’s not so clear. Today’s frozen drinks can be all of those things rolled into one Big Gulp-sized cup. Take a look at the Dunkin’ Donuts Frozen Coffee with Cream, a cup ‘o Joe that is as calorie-dense as a spaghetti and meatballs dinner, with the fat content of two cups of half-and-half, and more sugar than an entire pint of Ben & Jerry’s Cherry Garcia.
Here are some of the most popular summer sips posed next to desserts that contain the same amounts of sugar as the beverages.
Dairy Queen Caramel MooLatté
24fl oz, 112 grams of sugar, 945 calories
equivalent to a dozen Dunkin’ Donuts Bavarian Kreme-filled donuts
Baskin-Robbins Ice Cream Soda
28.6 fl oz, 136 grams of sugar, 830 calories
equivalent to 10 Fudgesicles
Krispy Kreme Lemon Sherbet Chiller
20 fl oz, 115 grams of sugar, 980 calories
equivalent to 11 chocolate eclairs
Così Double Oh! Arctic Mocha
23 fl oz, 240 grams of sugar, 662 calories
equivalent to 41 Oreos (you’re into a second package)
McDonald’s Triple Thick Chocolate Shake
32 fl oz (that would be a quart!), 168 grams of sugar 1,160 calories
equivalent to 13 McDonald’s apple pies
Smoothie King Peanut Power Plus Grape
40 fl oz, 214 grams of sugar, 1,460 calories
equivalent to 20 Reese’s peanut butter cups
Cold Stone PB&C (peanut butter and chocolate shake)
24 fl oz, 140 grams of sugar, 1750 calories
equivalent to 30 Chewy Chips Ahoy cookies
The next time you quench your thirst with one of these frosty beverages, ask yourself: is it a snack? Dessert? A meal replacement or a meal enhancement? You decide.
[all images via World Of Mysteries]
