Starbucks stores in NYC begin posting calorie counts on menu boards

Starbucks posted calorie content on its boards Monday to comply with a new NYC rule, but they were all alone. The controversial policy, which forces fast-food chains to list calorie information next to price and items, was postponed a third time this week because of a pending lawsuit to block the plan. (Read the NY Daily News story)

Comments

[ohmi.gosh]

AWESOME.

I love the idea of forcing people to have some idea of what they're putting into their bodies. One of the worst things at work for me is when a morbidly obese customer comes through the drive-thru and orders a venti frappuccino with extra caramel and whip cream :'/ It's soooo horribly unhealthy.

[anon]

Why no mention of the free Pike Place tall coffee every Wednesday until the end of May?

Are stores requiring customers to show the coupon card included in newspapers yesterday?

Excuse me, but is the BFD about yet another nanny state's feeble attempt to manage our lives for us.

Ohmi.gosh-
As a barista it is no your job to judge your customers. It is their life. I agree the calorie posting are a great idea, but remember they are adults and can do with their body what they want. No pity or condescending thoughts needed.

[Goof]

how many people actually use this info? I dont think it is useful after all...

[MN BariSTAR/Manager]

Thank GOD! I am so sick of people having no idea the discgustingly obsene amount of calories and fat. When a fat couple comes in and orders a venti breve with whip white mocha and a venti 7 pump breve with whip and carmel sauce chai and wonders why they are fat! There is something wrong with the whole idea of coffee. We have regulars who get venti frappucinnos EVERDAY! gag

[Sheik]

What?? No pics?

[Sheik]

Yeah, yeah, yeah,... photography in the store is strictly prohibited, blah blah blah...

Not true... according to my old SM, the SM and ASMs are allowed to take pictures in the store.

[eleanor abernathy]

How do you know that the white mocha couple wonders why they are fat? They probably know and just don't care.

Morbidly obese customers pay your salaries!

I would love SBUX to create a pie chart of revenue based on customer weight. I'd bet that the morbidly obese slice would be a rather large piece of that pie. Then the customer would eat the slice!

Seriously, though. When a 425 pound man comes up, you'd better be seeing dollar signs! You can suggest sell a whole BOX of lemon pound cake AND a venti extra whip, extra caramel zebra mocha frappuccino to go along with his venti extra caramel, single, breve with whip caramel macchiato.

Forget being ethical! Make those waistlines grow! The more they eat, the more you're hopefully going to get paid.

Anon at 5:15 you are right. Who are we to judge other peoples lifestyle? Or waistline?
We are serving them what they order, we don't force it into them. And since they are adults we can't (shouldn't) change it.
I don't like piercings, but I don't tell anyone who is pierced to take his piercing out, it could be damaging in the long run...

[Dolce]

It's not our place to judge. There's something deeper under all that fat, a PERSON, and he/she should be respected and loved the same as a slimmer person. They may just deal with emotional issues differently. Or, they just don't care if they're overweight.

Including the calorie count is going to deter some people from buying expensive drinks, but it is also going to help them make better decisions and I would rather help people who want to be healthy to stay healthy, than get paid .01% more on my paycheck.

I don't think the menu boards are an appropriate place. All Starbucks stores need to have those brochures again with all the calorie counts.

FAT PEOPLE PAY MORE!

They pay more at SBUX, they pay more medically, they pay more for clothes (gotta make up all that extra cloth some how)...

Fat people stimulate the economy.

[Lor]

i like to make little frappuccino samples and sample out pastries with the most calories (blueberry muffins, maple scones, etc..)..

it's my little revenge on society ;D

haha.. but thankfully there are customers that are doing my work for me.

"id like a venti 8pump whole milk white mocha." .."ORDER! A venti fatty white mocha for susan, please!"

~lor ♥

[Lor]

speaking of calories.. i had this one customer in my old store. she's like pretty much rotting from the outside. her name is linda, yes. linda. i dont care. a mere 4'5" height and like a fragile 80lbs.. but anyways.. she gets a tall 12 pump pumpkin spice frappuccino with whipped creme and extra pumping sprinkles.

so when i make it....... 12 pumps = the tall sized amount in the blender. no need for the coffee base!

pure syrup and ice.

thats it.

..................and then she binges it out in the women's bathroom sink. every single weekday.

she had like 90% of her colon removed from what i heard from her caretaker that drives her everytime.

yeah. i dislike linda alot.

fking unbelievably disgusting. if you all could only see what i see.

OOOH! i just remembered. she occasionally calls the store asking for the EXACT amount of calories in each pump of the pumpkin spice syrup. i try not to make direct eye contact with her, she makes me gag. eww.

~lor ♥

[justsayno]

wow, a thread bashing fat peole, and then others bashing the bashers....grrrreeeaaattt....

I love this, I am trying to pay more attention to what I put in my body- and at 5'10" 150 hardly obese. I appreciate places that help me make my choices easier.

[medstud]

dear dolce:
fat people do not stimulate the economy, they use our tax dollars and raise our insurance premiums for their self induced ailments. sure judging a fat person for what they order might be mean, but is letting them drink something that is going to eventually kill them any better?

[Alex]

I see nothing wrong with letting heavier customers order what they want without judgment. However, as a skinny person who would prefer to stay that way, you're damn right I want nutrition info on the menu board!

[LP Marcos]

hey lor, i read earlier you lived on the california coast? what store do you work in? hit me up on email if you dont wanna post here... its mark5[dot]msn[at]gmail[dot]com

thx

Fat people love their Frappuccinos!

Fataccinos!

Oh, look! The next order wants lard put in the drink!

[Aline]

AHAHAAHA! Love it when customers order "non-fat with whip", because that way they "balance each other out"!

Here's to denial!

[Dolce]

"dear dolce:
fat people do not stimulate the economy, they use our tax dollars and raise our insurance premiums for their self induced ailments. sure judging a fat person for what they order might be mean, but is letting them drink something that is going to eventually kill them any better? "

I never once said that fat people stimulate the economy. Fat people have the right to drink what they want. We can't stop them, so it does NO good to judge them, does it? Do you have fat friends? Do you care about them? Encourage them to eat healthy and exercise, and hopefully they will welcome your help. But that's all you can do to help the obese in society; as a barista, it's not your job to stop them from getting a "fataccino". Just apreciate them for who they are. Connect with them and find out what is valuable about them

[Dolce]

Medstud... notice that the poster's name shows below the post. I think you mistook someone else's post for mine.

Fat people are awesome. They're all jolly and funny looking.

Plus, they make thin people's self-esteem even higher.

[Javaccino]

I love the idea, myself. It empowers the consumer. I think people want to make reasonable decisions about what they are consuming, this will make the information they need easily accessible.

If an adult sees what the sugar and fat content of that vente breve beverage is and wants to switch to a grande 2%, fine, if he decides to stay with the breve, that's fine too. At least it's an informed decision now.

[triple-sec latte]

"speaking of calories.. i had this one customer in my old store. she's like pretty much rotting from the outside. her name is linda, yes. linda. i dont care. a mere 4'5" height and like a fragile 80lbs.. but anyways.. she gets a tall 12 pump pumpkin spice frappuccino with whipped creme and extra pumping sprinkles.

so when i make it....... 12 pumps = the tall sized amount in the blender. no need for the coffee base!

pure syrup and ice.

thats it.

..................and then she binges it out in the women's bathroom sink. every single weekday.

she had like 90% of her colon removed from what i heard from her caretaker that drives her everytime.

yeah. i dislike linda alot.

fking unbelievably disgusting. if you all could only see what i see.

OOOH! i just remembered. she occasionally calls the store asking for the EXACT amount of calories in each pump of the pumpkin spice syrup. i try not to make direct eye contact with her, she makes me gag. eww."

Wow. That's intense. And as disgusting as linda's habits are, I can't help but feel sorry for this woman - she's obviously very sick. My question is, why does her "caretaker" enabling this behavior by taking her to *$?

Mental illness is a bitch

People like Linda are hilarious!

Linda's probably less bulimic than you think; she's probably way addicted to meth... and overly spiced pumpkin drinks.

Oh, well.

HILARITY MAKES PEOPLE REJOICE!

Plus, don't you feel better about yourself when you compare yourself to Linda?

[arcwelder]

I'm pretty sure coffee started out as just that: coffee... some bean extract, some water... No flavors, no insane amounts of sugar and fat. Then it got Disney-fied and super-sized.

It's about time these calorie counts get more visibility. And if Starbucks really had these amazing values, they would be doing the right thing already, not sending their lawyers to fight it.