Healthy or Not? Dunkin' Iced Coffee Bottled Beverage
Dunkin' Donuts recently launched a new bottled beverage Dunkin' Iced Coffee, and we've been seeing it pop up everywhere - convenience stores, pizzerias, supermarkets. The doughnut and coffee chain is aiming to give you one more way to "keep running on Dunkin’." Great, you may be thinking, now I can have my favorite iced coffee without making a special trip to get it. But before you grab one out of convenience, remember one of the very first things you learned from your doctor and dietitian: "Don't drink your calories." With that in mind let's take a closer look at whether you should be running to or away from this product.
The drink comes in four flavors, Mocha, French Vanilla, Original and Espresso, all of which have just about the same nutrition facts and list the same 3 ingredients first. (Espresso flavor has 1 gram more in total carbs, sugar and protein. We are showing you the Mocha flavor below.) We highlighted some of the key nutrients and ingredients in the nutrition facts and ingredient list to help.
- Serving Size: 1 Bottle
- Calories: 290
- Calories from fat: 50
- Total fat: 6g
- Saturated Fat: 3.5g
- Total Carbohydrates: 47g
- Sugars: 45g
- Protein: 13g
Ingredients: Skim milk, sugar, coffee (water, coffee), cream, cocoa (made with alkali), potassium phosphate, pectin.
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The verdict?
The one positive about this product is that it provides a fair amount of protein from the milk, but the other nutrition facts we could do without. Specifically in the areas of fat, sugar and calories.
- Fat: The drink has 6 grams of fat total, with more than half in the form of saturated fat (mostly from the cream), which may raise your LDL or "bad" cholesterol.
- Sugars: There are a whopping 45 grams of sugar in this beverage. Much of that is likely from the first ingredient listed — skim milk, which is a naturally occurring sugar. Since sugar is the second ingredient listed, we can assume that there is most likely more than 25 grams of added sugar in this coffee. Women should limit added sugar to 26 grams a day and men should limit to 38 grams a day. Downing this beverage would mean drinking almost a full day's worth of sugar in one bottle.
Bottom line. Save yourself about 250 calories and more than 25 grams of added sugar by brewing your own or ordering a medium iced coffee with skim milk and a no-calorie sweetener or a small amount of sugar.