2.26.2008

Fast Food Hall of Shame: Milky Way Hot Chocolate


We can always count on Double D to be whipping up something special in their Beverage R and D lab. As the perfect compliment to their summer sugar bomb, the Coolatta, you can now enjoy a mega-dose of sugar while warming up by the fireplace. Enter the Milky Way Hot Chocolate. Can you believe that somebody gets paid to come up with these gems!

One saving grace is that they do not really put a Milky Way bar into the hot chocolate (If they did, the calories would be through the roof!). Dunkin's food scientists achieve the illusion by adding a bunch of artificial flavoring and extra ingredients to capture just the right texture and mouth feel.

Here are the Nutrition Facts for a Medium (14 ounce) Milky Way Hot Chocolate :

Calories 280 (Equivalent to eating 1.5 cans of Healthy Choice Chicken Noodle Soup)
Fat 9g (like eating 2 teaspoons of butter)
Saturated 9g (2 teaspoons of pure saturated fat - in a beverage!)
Cholesterol 0g (amazing there is no cholesterol in this product)
Protein 2g
Carbs 52g (two big slices of liquid bread anyone?)
Sugars 41g (open wide for 8 teaspoons of sugar)
Sodium 580g (coming in at 25% of the recommended DV, it create a sugar and salt 1-2 punch!)

Ingredient Lowlights: Partially Hydrogenated Oils (listed twice), Corn Syrup Solids, Artificial Colors and Flavors.

Bottom line: Why would anybody drink this (or let their kids, for that matter)!? Unfortunately Dunkin's regular hot chocolate does not fare much better nutritionally. But at least it does not have the extra artificial flavors and other sensory ingredients.

Check out The Facts at DunkinDonuts.com!

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