March 18, 2009

Made With... Clogged Arteries in Mind?

Baskin Robbins' latest offerings include "Made With..." sundaes, which add popular candies to your ice cream experience.

The "made with M&Ms" sundae, for example, consists of"three scoops of made with M&M's ice cream, layered with hot fudge and M&M's, topped with more hot fudge, marshmallow, whipped cream and more M&M's.""

Alas, this sundae is only available in one size, which adds up to:

1,090 calories
30 grams of saturated fat (approximately a day and a half's worth)
120 grams of added sugar (that's 30 teaspoons)

The "made with Snickers" sundae ("three scoops of made with Snickers ice cream, crushed Snickers pieces and caramel layers, topped with caramel, hot fudge, whipped cream and Snickers pieces", pictured at right) clocks in at:

1,000 calories
25 grams of saturated fat
93 grams of added sugar (approximately 23 teaspoons)
710 milligrams of sodium (70 more grams than a McDonald's Filet-O-Fish!)

What truly irritates me about these products is that if anyone happens to crave these sundaes, their only options are these nutritional horrors.

As we are all too aware, buying a sundae and throwing half of it out is not a reasonable expectation. Neither is having half and taking the rest home.

Why can't Baskin Robbins make this standard size a "large" and also offer a "small" sundae consisting of one scoop of ice cream and, consequently, a lot less of fudge, whipped cream, and candy pieces?

Why must an ice cream treat turn into a caloric abomination?

Food companies and fast food chains love to talk about "moderation", so how about offering it?

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

That is a bit crazy that they wouldn't offer these sundaes in 2 sizes. You would think there would at least be a child's size or something, because 3 scoops of ice cream is alot for most adult even!

Anonymous said...

You can order any size sundae with any kind of ice cream... it doesn't always have to look like the picture. Every BR offers 1 scoop sundaes and you and customize it any way you like. Not always the healthiest but sometimes we need to treat ourselves a little.

Andy Bellatti said...

The premium sundaes (including the "made with..." ones) can not be made to order. You either get the whole deal or nothing.

wife2abadge said...

Amen! Often when I ask "do you have a kid size?" they have one even though it's not on the menu. A kid size scoop is enough for anyone.