Please, do not ever buy this 2,300 calorie shake from Baskin Robbins, which contains approximately half a pound of sugar. As Consumerist reader Doug points out,
Last time I checked, an adult male should consume 2,500 calories a day, and this shake nearly meets that requirement! The saturated fat present in that shake is over 3 times the RDA of 20 grams, which will put you on the fast track for heart disease. Of course, that’s if the Type 2 diabetes caused by all 266 grams of that sugar doesn’t get you first.
While I believe that people should be held responsible for what they consume, I think corporations need to share just a little responsibility too, and not sell piles of liquid sugar and fat like this. I’d be surprised if even 1 in 100 of the folks that consume that shake know just how bad it is.
On the plus side, it does provide 120% of the RDA for calcium. Oh, and about 1600% of the RDA for Heath candy bars.
(Our tipster, Doug, came up with “death shake.”)
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I think I gained a pound just by looking at the picture…
…Am I the only one that actually wants to have one of those?
I mean, sure as hell it’s not good for me and I would probably die from eating it…
BUT IT LOOKS SO GOOD!
@Whyspir:
It sure does look good.
I like the candy bar as it is.
I vote for a new “death shake” watch and category where we keep track of if anyone gets up over 2300 calories for a shake.
Sweeeeet! And yeah, I am in the party of “let people eat what they want”, but I do think nutritional info should be easily seen or found at the time of purchase.
I’m no apologist, but this is a 32 ounce milkshake. That much volume is ludicrous. There needs to be another line on that nutritional info that says “serves 4.”
Of course, the smallest size they sell is a 16 oz., so if you wanted anything near a reasonable serving size (6 or 8 oz.), you’d still be throwing some away.
On the other hand, you could buy the small and split it with someone. 495 calories for a dessert seems much more reasonable.
@MrSpaz: Or sharing with someone else which is what I would do. Having a 16oz one of these isn’t going to kill anyone as long as it is done once in awhile.
But it says Health Shake on the cup!
It’s a relief they used reduced fat milk!
2300 calorie milkshake? That’s all I needed to hear. I want it!
I’ve remained blissfully ignorant until now. This post has inspired me to finally suck it up and check how bad my delicious Oreo Sundae is. Not quite 2300, but 1330 calories. Yikes.
I could probably consume one of these shakes… as long as it’s over the course of one month. No way could I eat this thing over the course of only a week…
I’d probably buy one and split it with a friend or two….
At least it’s made with low-fat milk
So how can we get this wonderful item added to the White House bedtime snack menu w/in the next two-odd months?
dude, I’m starting to think like milkshakes are bad for you or something.
Lighten Up!and not Baskin Robbins.
I agree with zeke and grimm .
It all depends on the individual,yeah if you have one of these a day it MIGHT be trouble.It depends on your lifestyle,fitness habits or body metabolism.These things aren’t as cheap as the McDonalds dollar menu either
If you want to note calories,or sugar or peanut content fine but to ban,penalize or judge because someone wants to eat this and can eat this is wrong.
@u1itn0w2day: Ah, I see you’re not a small business owner who has seen their employer health coverage premiums rise 30% year after year due to statistical group-weighting and the ever-expanding national waistline.
Thanks Baskin Robbins! Now I know what to serve at our company picnic…might as well get our monies worth on the healthcare front.
@amillians: Health care/ premiums are a seperate issue here.
But your employees or anyone else’s for that matter are making choices,including to eat and use the health coverage that was arranged for the them.
Overweight or too much fat usually comes from burning less calories than you take in.If people don’t know when to stop eating or show restraint or worse yet not exercise that is their problem.Alot of health issues come from the lack of education,basic education.
Why should people be penalized in the way of choices for someone else’s weight.Baskin Robbins is not the cheapest junk food around.It’s not as accessable as the dollar store or a candy bar from 7-11.Nor is
Baskin Robbins touting this as healthy food.Most people treat a place like Baskin Robbins let alone the food from Baskin Robbins as a treat or dessert place and not a primary source of nutrition.
If somebody has special dietary requirments fine put a few labels on the stuff.Not everybody is going to function or react the same way to food.
I bet it tastes bloody fantastic though.
I bet it tastes like crap, like bloody crap– the first ingredient is reduced fat milk and the ice cream is made with nonfat milk! They’re robbing us out of at least another 500 calories.
Everything that actually tastes good is bad for you. Thats why MDonalds fries are no longer good. they stopped frying them in lard
it’s usually the large shake is made with four junior scoops mixed with skim milk and topped with whip etc. why would anyone assume a large cup of mostly of ice cream is low in fat or calories?
Who needs that crap? All summer I was blending milk with mixed frozen fruit from Costco, sometimes with a little chocolate or honey. Hell, sometimes I was eating them for lunch, and it’s certainly better than a “death shake”.
This is such a joke. Anyone who doesn’t realize a fucking enormous ice cream shake from Baskin Robbin’s is bad for them deserves diabetes. These are things you’re supposed to enjoy as a special treat, not for regular consumption.
Not to mention that the website has links to surprisingly in-depth nutrition facts for everything they sell…
Who knew that the Heath Shake didn’t have crustaceans in it?
1. Ewwwww
2. Ewwwwwwwww
3. Ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww
I think I shall go eat an entire head of broccoli.
Choice is great, but this is insanity with a straw.
Jesus Christ. That doesn’t even sound tasty. I mean, sometimes shit like this actually sound good even if you will never eat it. “Oh wow, you are taking two greasy salty hamburger patties and covering them in 4 slices of cheese, nacho cheese sauce bacon? Damn that sounds good, even if it will kill me.”
@rainmkr “I do think nutritional info should be easily seen or found at the time of purchase.”
If you need that information on this at the time of purchase you are an idiot. Inch of caramel on the bottom means don’t get it if you are watching your weight or eating healthy. Also the last thing i want is a menu with a crap load of nutritional info on it. You can kind of tell whats good for you or bad for you if you are halfway intelligent. People need to stop passins the buck for their laziness.
@Ingredient list:
‘propellant: nitrous oxide’
…wait, what?
The shake is so calorie laden that it needs a propellant to get to your mouth?
@Sheogorath: I’m guessing that’s from the whipped cream on top.
@peggynature:
I think my theory is much more interesting
…because God forbid anyone should ever enjoy an over-the-top, calorific treat without believing it will result in INSTANT DEATH!
Eat one on a regular basis? Maybe not a good idea.
Eat one occasionally as the special treat it’s meant to be? (I mean, it’s sold at Baskin Robbins, not the produce aisle of the damn grocery store.) Why not?
BTW, this thing is 32 fl oz, or 1 litre. A milkshake that size could easily be shared between 2-4 people, and I doubt many people could finish the whole thing on their own unless they’d missed a meal or three.
So could we, like, tone down the FOOD ALARMISM!!!! spiel a little bit? If you don’t like something, or find too much/too rich for you, then don’t eat it. It’s as simple as that. You don’t need to start screaming about how it will KILL EVERYONE.
And not labelling A LITRE OF ICE CREAM AND SYRUP as being, yes, quite calorific, isn’t exactly misleading or fraudulent — unless the consumer is a bonafide dipshit.
Sorry, one more thing:
Of course, that’s if the Type 2 diabetes caused by all 266 grams of that sugar doesn’t get you first.
Consuming sugar does not cause diabetes.
[www.diabetes.org]
I’m sure the American Diabetes Association kind of wishes it did — because that would mean it’s easily prevented and cured. But…no.
@peggynature: Ah, three healthy servings of reason! You absolutely rock.
thank god the Reese peanut butter cup one only has 1300 cals. D: God, i’m never having a shake at BR again.
My wife and I shared a large Chocolate Blast last night. It’s not on the menu anymore, but tell them to make a Cappuccino Blast with chocolate syrup instead of coffee, and chocolate ice cream instead of vanilla.
It really is the best beverage in the world. I was always scared it had a calorie content similar to the Heath Shake, but it is only 660. It does appear to contain 86% of your RDA of saturated fat.
Keep in mind, we SHARED this. I would never advise taking on one of these by yourself.
Anyone who can actually drink one of their LARGE size shakes all by themselves must be some kind of mutant anyway, and they probably have different nutritional needs than standard humans.
@morganlh85: consider me a mutant. though my nutritional needs aren’t all that different, which is why i weigh 2.5 times what my girlfriend does. (relax, she’s 95 pounds and i weigh 240 at 6’3″. i’m not exactly skinny but no one in their right mind has ever thought i weighed 240 since it fits me)
@ stre
Before I am flamed, i understand BMI is a poor measure. However stre’s BMI indicated you are obese. So unless you have a significant amount of lean muscle mass, im sure it doesn’t “fit you”. This is exactly the thinking that causes obese people to remain obese.
Your BMI: 30
BMI Categories:
* Underweight = <18.5
* Normal weight = 18.5-24.9
* Overweight = 25-29.9
* Obesity = BMI of 30 or greater
I think the important thing to take out of the nutritional information is that the shake contains 120% of your daily requirement of calcium. that makes it a health food.
I’ll stick to the rum raisin shake. Tasty, and it f***s you UP!
Looks like this story just made Fark. They bill it as the “Best Milkshake EVAR”.
“I think corporations need to share just a little responsibility too, and not sell piles of liquid sugar and fat like this.”
Choices:
1. Prepare your own food vs. eating out
2. 2700 Baskin Robbins locations in the U.S. vs. virtually unlimited choices, i.e. anywhere there is a Baskin Robbins, there will be someplace else as well
3. Choose the Death Shake at BR vs. some other menu item
Here’s the beautiful thing about living in a free society: none of us will ever have to eat this thing if we don’t want to. We have choices.
FALSE: If I eat this once, as a treat, I am going to die.
TRUE: If I eat it regularly, then I’m a fool and the Social Darwinism so abhorred by the Nerf Society takes over. I get fat, then I die.
Remember that riduculous artery buster that Hardee’s put out a while back? This isn’t about “making informed choices”, it’s about social control. Once the busybodies finished with cigarettes, they turned their attention to yummy snacks.
Be very afraid.
@almostred1: You seem to have missed the point of the story in your haste to jump on the “free choice” bandwagon.
The point of the story was to ask B&R Corporation to educate it’s customers so they can make an informed “choice”.
Personally I will enjoy a “Shake” from the virtually unlimited choices I have … but if I don’t know that Shake X is far far worse then Shake Y, do I really have the information necessary to make that choice?
No … hence the story … and hence why your comment is off base.
@david.c:
By your logic, “educating” consumers means steering them away from products you consider potentially harmful, hence the comments, re: social control. “Better choices” means forcing people to do what you or some benevolent government entity thinks is best, leaving no room whatsoever for personal responsibility.
Again, the cigarette example applies here: you are demanding that a legal, legitimate product be required to “un-sell” itself to potential consumers.
What do you need to make an informed choice about milkshakes, beyond “more than one per week and you’re an idiot?” Maybe you could force people to show Proof of Exercise before purchasing said tasty treat?
I understand the point of the story, thank you very much, Mr. Condescendingpants. I just don’t agree with it, or you. If you’re the type of person who actually has to compare nutrition information between milkshakes, then Mr. Darwin’s work is already half-finished.
I need to gain some weight.
I’m off to find the nearest Baskin Robbins!
Thanks for the tip.
Death Shake to us, breakfast to Michael Phelps?
@SilleeString: Breakfast? He washes down breakfast with 12 of these.
@TenaciousC: “BMI is a poor measure” but “you’re obese because BMI says so”. what kind of twisted logic is this? i understand that judging a person based on their profile picture is a poor measure, but you’re fat based on your profile picture. don’t worry everyone, i said it was a bad measure but i’m going to make a claim since i can’t see the person and he can’t smack me upside the head when i’m being stupid. but i said it was a bad measure, so it’s ok.
if you knew what BMI was, then you’d know you can’t actually determine a person’s BMI by consulting a chart. the charts assume you’ve got some standard ratio of fat to muscle. if you’re a muscly (officially pronounced muskely) person, the charts don’t mean shit. come on over and you can decide if your BMI charts apply, and then i get to smack you upside the head.
When advocating that people should be free to eat whatever they want, one other thing needs to be taken into consideration. Poor diets high in fat and sugar often lead to poor health. This of course results in health care costs. The burden of ever higher health care costs is shared by everyone so there are societal implications to the freedom of the individual.
That being said, outright banning of foods and forcing people to eat certain things is probably not the way to go. Government should definitely be involved in the education of good health choices and the regulation of the quality of food we eat. They should not be in the business of mandating dietary choices however.
If you end up with heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, etc. and you have a poor diet, then you should shoulder more of the economic burden. That should be the price you pay for your individual choices. I really don’t have specific proposals on how to do that but it should definitely be part of the debate. Soaring health care costs are a significant factor in our current economic situation. We shouldn’t be afraid to put new ideas on the table for discussion.