There are more Starbucks stores than McDonald’s locations in the United States. In fact, the only fast-food franchise with more U.S. stores than Starbucks is Subway. (Here’s a list of the fast-food brands with the most locations in the U.S.) Chances are, you live near one (or two, or three, or four) Starbucks locations. The Seattle-based coffee chain has become part of the daily routine for millions of Americans. However, that morning latte or sweet Frappuccino treat might be harming your health more than you realize. While Starbucks does offer lots of menu items that can be part of a healthy lifestyle, many of its most popular offerings are packed with sugar and calories.

The American Heart Association recommends no more than 36 grams of sugar for men and 25 grams for children, teens, and women each day. And, according to the National Library of Medicine, an adult woman should consume 2,000 calories per day to maintain her weight. An adult man should consume 2,500 daily calories to maintain his weight.

We found 60…that’s right…60 menu items at Starbucks that contain more sugar than is recommended for the entire day for an adult man. Many of these items are also loaded with calories.

Compiling the List

24/7 Wall St. used the nutritional information provided on the Starbucks website to compile this list. Only standard menu items available in February 2024 were evaluated, meaning seasonal drinks such as the wildly popular Pumpkin Spice Latte (or PSL, as it is commonly known) were not included. (If you’re already anticipating the return of the PSL this fall, you should know that a grande PSL contains 50 grams of sugar and 390 calories.)

Secret menu items were also not included. If your standard order is a Cinnamon Toast Crunch Drink, Ferrero Rocher Frappuccino, Purple Drink, or Baby Yoda Frappuccino, you’ll have to figure out the nutritional information on your own.

Each menu item’s nutritional information was evaluated based on the standard order that appears on the Starbucks online menu. No changes or adjustments were made. Beverage sugar and calorie content are calculated for a Grande size. Frappuccinos are made with whole milk. Many hot lattes are calculated with 2% milk unless otherwise noted. If whipped cream and other toppings are part of a beverage’s standard order, they are included in the sugar and calorie totals.

While many of these menu choices can’t ever be deemed as truly healthy, consumers can significantly reduce the total sugar and calories by choosing a smaller size, selecting a milk alternative, and eliminating whipped cream and syrup toppings.

While these 60 menu items from Starbucks contain more than the daily recommended sugar intake for adult men, it must be noted that several other Starbucks offerings come very close. For example, an Iced Caramel Macchiato contains 34 grams of sugar. A Caffè Mocha is filled with 35 grams of sugar. Both drinks contain quite an unhealthy amount of sugar, but they fell just under the 36-gram cutoff in our survey.

The following menu items are ordered by sugar content. When the sugar content of multiple items was tied, they were then ordered by calorie content.

60. Hot Chocolate

• Sugar: 37 grams
• Calories: 370

One hot chocolate from Starbucks contains 37 grams of sugar, which is more than the daily 36 grams recommended for men and 25 grams recommended for women.

59. Double Chocolate Brownie

• Sugar: 37 grams
• Calories: 480

58. Chestnut Praline Latte

• Sugar: 38 grams
• Calories: 330

57. Pumpkin & Pepita Loaf

• Sugar: 38 grams
• Calories: 390

56. Iced Lemon Loaf

• Sugar: 39 grams
• Calories: 450

55. Iced Pistachio Latte

• Sugar: 40 grams
• Calories: 260

54. Cinnamon Dolce Latte

• Sugar: 40 grams
• Calories: 340

53. Chestnut Praline Crème

• Sugar: 41 grams
• Calories: 350

52. Espresso Frappucino

• Sugar: 42 grams
• Calories: 210

51. Chai Tea Latte (hot or iced)

• Sugar: 42 grams
• Calories: 240

50. Iced White Chocolate Mocha

• Sugar: 42 grams
• Calories: 390

49. Sugar Cookie Almondmilk Crème Frappuccino

• Sugar: 43 grams
• Calories: 310

48. Chestnut Praline Crème Frappuccino

• Sugar: 43 grams
• Calories: 340

46. (tie) Vanilla Crème

• Sugar: 43 grams
• Calories: 350

46. (tie) White Chocolate Crème Frappuccino

• Sugar: 43 grams
• Calories: 350

45. Gingerbread Loaf

• Sugar: 43 grams
• Calories: 380

44. Iced Caramel Brulée Latte

• Sugar: 44 grams
• Calories: 400

43. Blended Strawberry Lemonade

• Sugar: 45 grams
• Calories: 190

42. Coffee Frappucino

• Sugar: 45 grams
• Calories: 230

41. Pistachio Latte

• Sugar: 45 grams
• Calories: 320

40. Chai Crème Frappuccino

• Sugar: 45 grams
• Calories: 340

38. (tie) Iced Gingerbread Oatmilk Chai

• Sugar: 45 grams
• Calories: 360

38. (tie) Pistachio Crème Frappuccino

• Sugar: 45 grams
• Calories: 360

37. White Chocolate Mocha

• Sugar: 46 grams
• Calories: 390

36. Caramel Ribbon Crunch Crème Frappuccino

• Sugar: 46 grams
• Calories: 420

35. Chocolate Cookie Crumble Crème Frappuccino

• Sugar: 46 grams
• Calories: 460

34. Pistachio Crème

• Sugar: 47 grams
• Calories: 330

33. Double Chocolaty Chip Crème Frappuccino

• Sugar: 47 grams
• Calories: 410

32. White Hot Chocolate

• Sugar: 48 grams
• Calories: 400

31. Caramel Brulée Latte

• Sugar: 48 grams
• Calories: 410

30. Caramel Brulée Crème Frappuccino

• Sugar: 49 grams
• Calories: 380

29. Iced Peppermint Mocha

• Sugar: 49 grams
• Calories: 420

28. Peppermint Mocha Crème Frappuccino

• Sugar: 50 grams
• Calories: 390

27. Caramel Brulée Crème

• Sugar: 50 grams
• Calories: 420

24. (tie) Mocha Frappuccino

• Sugar: 51 grams
• Calories: 370

24. (tie) Strawberry Crème Frappuccino

• Sugar: 51 grams
• Calories: 370

24. (tie) White Chocolate Mocha Frappuccino

• Sugar: 51 grams
• Calories: 370

23. Vanilla Bean Crème Frappuccino

• Sugar: 52 grams
• Calories: 380

22. Iced Chai Tea Latte with Oleato Golden Foam

• Sugar: 53 grams
• Calories: 510

21. Gingerbread Oatmilk Chai

• Sugar: 54 grams
• Calories: 310

20. Caramel Frappuccino

• Sugar: 54 grams
• Calories: 380

19. Chocolate-Covered Strawberry Crème Frappuccino

• Sugar: 54 grams
• Calories: 410

18. Peppermint Mocha

• Sugar: 54 grams
• Calories: 440

17. Pistachio Frappuccino

• Sugar: 55 grams
• Calories: 380

16. Mocha Cookie Crumble Frappuccino

• Sugar: 55 grams
• Calories: 480

15. Chestnut Praline Frappuccino

• Sugar: 56 grams
• Calories: 380

14. Peppermint Hot Chocolate

• Sugar: 56 grams
• Calories: 440

13. Sugar Cookie Almondmilk Frappuccino

• Sugar: 58 grams
• Calories: 370

12. Caramel Brulée Frappuccino

• Sugar: 58 grams
• Calories: 400

11. Peppermint White Chocolate Crème Frappuccino

• Sugar: 58 grams
• Calories: 420

10. Java Chip Frappucino

• Sugar: 59 grams
• Calories: 440

9. Caramel Ribbon Crunch Frappuccino

• Sugar: 60 grams
• Calories: 470

8. Matcha Crème Frappuccino

• Sugar: 61 grams
• Calories: 420

7. Caffè Vanilla Frappuccino

• Sugar: 63 grams
• Calories: 410

6. Peppermint Mocha Frappuccino

• Sugar: 63 grams
• Calories: 430

5. Iced Peppermint White Chocolate Mocha

• Sugar: 68 grams
• Calories: 490

4. Caramel Apple Spice

• Sugar: 70 grams
• Calories: 380

3. Peppermint White Chocolate Mocha

• Sugar: 72 grams
• Calories: 510

2. Peppermint White Chocolate Mocha Frappuccino

• Sugar: 73 grams
• Calories: 470

1. Peppermint White Hot Chocolate

• Sugar: 74 grams
• Calories: 520

One Grande peppermint white hot chocolate from Starbucks contains more than twice the recommended daily sugar intake for an adult man. For children, teens, and women, the drink falls just one gram short of tripling the recommended daily amount of sugar. 

For some additional perspective, consider this: a regular-sized Snickers bar contains 28 grams of sugar. One peppermint white hot chocolate from Starbucks contains more sugar and 2 ½ Snickers bars! It also contains more calories than two of these candy bars.

If you are looking for the single most unhealthy item on the Starbucks menu, this is it.

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