Hard OPINION

Starbucks continues to pat its self on the back for changing its food offerings to items that are “healthier”.  However, what they fail to do is make it clear to customers just what they are getting for their money as nutritional information is not readily available to the paying customer.

Almost all the pastry items are delivered in bulk to the stores, where they are then separated and put on display.  Few if any are individually packed and labeled with contents and nutritional values.  The same applies to the breakfast sandwiches, which although individually wrapped for delivery to the store, are then unwrapped to be heated in the oven.

So, whether you are an in-store customer or a drive through customer, when the Barista tries to talk you into buying a food item, do you believe the Starbucks message:

“Real Food Simply Delicious

• No artificial flavors
• No artificial dyes
• No artificial trans fats
• No high-fructose corn syrup”

or should you check out the nutritional values for your self?

Of the stores that we have visited, none displayed in an easy to read format, the nutritional values of the unpackaged food items.  When we asked the people taking the orders, we were greeted with mostly blank stares, puzzled looks and the ubiquitous eye rolling cracked mouthed look that says

“another nutter, just my luck!  Does it say ‘useless information desk’ on my forehead or what!!!”

You know the look, and if you haven’t experienced yet, just go to the nearest Starbucks and ask for something other than a Grande Mocha, then you’ll see it!

It’s becoming an all too familiar look on the faces of store staff, its similar to the

“you want what – listen I’ve been hear since 5 AM, we’re short staffed because of the freakin’ ALS (automatic labor system), the manger is an idiot and hasen’t been seen for days, I haven’t had my meal break because we are too busy and because we’re short staffed – and you want what!!!!! – go to McDonald’s and piss them off , just leave me alone, order a freakin’ coffee and don’t complain its not bold because we’re told to brew the crappy Pikes Place Roast, – and GO!!!!!!!!”

NOW you know the look!!!!

But what about the food – OK. We managed to get our sticky fingers on a copy of the internal Food Product Information  cards that have been sent to every store – interesting reading!

Does slapping a label on something saying it’s  “Reduced-Fat” automatically make it good?  Or is this simply marketing hype?  We see this on so many food products which upon close inspection are products that could be bad for you.  Like all things – moderation is the key, so eating a bad product once in a while is not going to have the paramedics beating a path to your door.  BUT, those who are regular (daily) visitors to the java store may need to think twice before being enticed to a slice of this, or that, or the breakfast pairing of the day.  Just what are you being asked to put in your mouth?  Could this be hazardous to my health?

Remember also that your favorite beverage with one pump of this, three of that, two of the other, topped off which whipped cream is a calorie-sugary-cholesterol buster all of its own!

When you look at the table below, ask yourself this:

“Is one 6.3 ounce sandwich really worth blowing almost half  or more of my recommended sodium intake for the day, on?”

“Is that slice of cake really worth almost 25%of my calorie intake for the day?”

Keeping in mind the plethora of information that is available on nutrition, we looked at the American Heart Association’s web site as a reference point for calories, fats, sodium levels etc.  So, working on an average of 2000 calories per day, and following the AHA recommendation on sodium(salt) which is:

Aim to eat less than 2,300 mg of salt per day. Some people — African Americans, middle-aged and older adults, and people with high blood pressure — need less than 1,500 mg per day.

To illustrate, the following are sources of sodium in the diet.
1/4 teaspoon salt     = 575 mg sodium
1/2 teaspoon salt     = 1,150 mg sodium
3/4 teaspoon salt     = 1,725 mg sodium
1 teaspoon salt           = 2,300 mg sodium

Lets look at the Starbucks “Healthy Foods” nutritional vales:

Whilst we admit this is not a comprehensive list of all the values, we selected out some of the more major items to consider, particularly sodium, calories and cholesterol.