Buyer Beware!
I love Tim Horton's coffee. Let me say that first, 'cause the next thing I want to do is dump all over another of their offerings, namely their "Hot Smoothees". The product is pitched as a caffeine-free hot beverage, and is available in four "delicious" flavours. (Of course, they're always delicious flavours ... ever seen an ad trying to sell a mediocre flavour? "try our new crud-flavoured tasty treat!") Anyway, if someone tries to tell you they're actually good for you, because they are made with skim milk powder, fix them with a steely eye and demand to know the rest of the ingredients before you imbibe.
Since those in the know probably wouldn't be in too much of a hurry to share this info, I'll fill you in. The good-for-you skim milk powder is mixed in with hydrogenated coconut oil, glucose solids, sodium caseinate, potassium phosphate dibasic, artificial flavouring, silicon dioxide, salt, mono and diglycerides, cellulose gum, xanthan gum, soya lecithin and FD&C Yellow#5 in the base. For the so-called raspberry, for instance, the base is then mixed with propylene glycol, glycerine, water, FD&C Red #40 and FD&C Blue #1. If you order the who's-kidding-whom hazelnut, they'll take the base and substitute caramel colour and triacetin for the red and blue food colourings. Yum, yum.
The kicker (if you need anything else after all that) is the sugar and calorie content. In a small you'll be treating yourself to 190 calories and five teaspoons of sugar, but if you're really thirsty and you go for an extra large, be prepared for the 450 calories and 12 teaspoons of sugar loaded in there.
To put this into some kind of perspective, just picture yourself ordering a coffee, even an extra large, and asking the server behind the counter to make it a double-double-double-double-double-double. I'm not even going to mention the saturated fat content. The Tim Horton's Nutrition Guide doesn't give you the goods on that one, but if you really want to know, check out the April issue of Centre for Science in the Public Interest April issue Health Letter.
Since those in the know probably wouldn't be in too much of a hurry to share this info, I'll fill you in. The good-for-you skim milk powder is mixed in with hydrogenated coconut oil, glucose solids, sodium caseinate, potassium phosphate dibasic, artificial flavouring, silicon dioxide, salt, mono and diglycerides, cellulose gum, xanthan gum, soya lecithin and FD&C Yellow#5 in the base. For the so-called raspberry, for instance, the base is then mixed with propylene glycol, glycerine, water, FD&C Red #40 and FD&C Blue #1. If you order the who's-kidding-whom hazelnut, they'll take the base and substitute caramel colour and triacetin for the red and blue food colourings. Yum, yum.
The kicker (if you need anything else after all that) is the sugar and calorie content. In a small you'll be treating yourself to 190 calories and five teaspoons of sugar, but if you're really thirsty and you go for an extra large, be prepared for the 450 calories and 12 teaspoons of sugar loaded in there.
To put this into some kind of perspective, just picture yourself ordering a coffee, even an extra large, and asking the server behind the counter to make it a double-double-double-double-double-double. I'm not even going to mention the saturated fat content. The Tim Horton's Nutrition Guide doesn't give you the goods on that one, but if you really want to know, check out the April issue of Centre for Science in the Public Interest April issue Health Letter.
2 Comments:
Hmm ... hot smoothies ... maybe they should be calling it Timpoos. Would go well with Timbits.
Well if I ever thought about trying one, I am certainly not thinking about it anymore. YUCK!!!!
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