The Hard Facts on Baskin-Robbins' Soft Serve

Baskin-Robbins is expanding its ice cream experience weeks before the official start of summer.

Say hello to their very own soft serve!

Don't let the name fool you; this swirly vanilla concoction has no interest in helping you indulge your sweet tooth without overloading on calories.

For starters, a regular (not kiddie-sized, not large) soft serve cone provides 280 calories, 35% of a day's worth of saturated fat, and 9 teaspoons of sugar.

Certainly not a harmless treat.

The real disaster, however, comes if you order Baskin Robbins' new 31 Below soft serve sundaes ("vanilla Soft Serve blended with your favorite candies, cookies and toppings for a delectable dessert.")

Take, for instance, the Reese's Peanut Butter Cup 31 Below treat: a combination of vanilla soft serve, Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, and Reese's Peanut Butter Sauce.

At its smallest, it offers 950 calories, 105% of a day's worth of saturated fat, and 21.5 teaspoons of sugar.

Choose a large (which, by the way, is advertised for a single person; there is no mention of it being "shareable") and once you've taken your last bite you will have consumed 1800 calories, 195% of a day's worth of saturated fat, almost half a day's worth of sodium (!), and 40 teaspoons of sugar!

And that's not even as bad as it gets.

A large fudge brownie 31 Below, for instance, clocks in at 1900 calories and 58 teaspoons of sugar.

We come back to the eternal question -- WHY?

Is there really a necessity to create a dessert that offers an entire day's worth of calories and 600% of the maximum added sugar allowance?

Your best bet is to tap into your inner child and order a kiddie size soft serve vanilla cone (don't be shy, it is just as big as McDonald's standard vanilla cone).

At 140 calories, 18% of a day's worth of saturated fat, and less than 5 teaspoons of sugar, it's an occassional summer treat that, despite the presence of "corn syrup solids" and multiple stabilizers, is cool with me.