The Calories In Starbucks' New Mint Mocha Frappuccino Are Mind-Boggling

Starbucks has made a commendable effort to provide their customers with a variety of healthy meal and beverage options. Their hearty blueberry oatmeal; spinach, feta, and cage-free egg-white breakfast wrap; protein bistro box; and veggie and brown rice salad bowl are all under 500 calories and are made of relatively wholesome ingredients.

Click here for the 8 Unhealthiest Hot Starbucks Drinks.

But all of those calories you save munching on an egg-white wrap reappear with only a few sips from one of their indulgent, whipped cream-topped Frappuccinos. The "Frappuccino" is a trademarked brand of the Starbucks Corporation, which they inherited through the 1994 acquisition of the Massachusetts coffee chain The Coffee Connection. Frappucinos are described as a line of blended, cold coffee beverages that usually include coffee, ice, milk, sugar, flavored syrups, and whipped cream. The drinks come in a number of flavors ranging from fun to bizarre to flat-out irritating.

But Starbucks' Frappuccinos are more milkshake than coffee, with nutritional profiles that would make even Ben and Jerry blush. Their newest iteration of the Frappuccino, the "Midnight Mint Mocha," takes the words "rich" and "indulgent" to new heights. This amalgamation of sugar, saturated fat, and "natural flavors" is a dietary monstrosity. A 16-ounce version of the drink made with whole milk and whipped cream contains 470 calories — 10 calories fewer than a 10-piece order of McDonald's Chicken McNuggets — along with 52 grams of sugar, 80 percent of the recommended daily allowance of saturated fat, and even one gram of trans fat.

The drink's ingredients create more confusion and head scratching. The first five ingredients listed — ice, milk, whipped cream, vanilla syrup, and "coffee Frappuccino syrup" — are noticeably absent of anything related to coffee (the coffee Frappuccino syrup only contains natural and artificial coffee flavor). So at the end of the day it looks like you're paying five dollars for some ice, mocha syrup, and whipped cream — the very definition of empty calories. But I can't lie: It's pretty darn refreshing on a hot summer day.