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Starbucks Coconut Milk

Starbucks in Canada recently began providing coconut milk as an alternative to dairy and soy. Curious to know the makeup of their coconut milk, I went to a local shop and gave it a try.

I'm sorry to say that I was disappointed. It felt quite artificial to my palate, and I don't consider myself to be a connoisseur of fine foods and beverages, not by a long shot.

Curious to know what was giving their coconut milk a chemical-like feel to me, I took note of their ingredients:

Water, coconut cream, cane sugar, coconut water concentrate, natural flavours, sea salt, carrageenan (E407), gellan gum (E418), corn dextrin (E1400), xanthan gum (E415), guar gum (E412).

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Without knowing the quantities of these listed ingredients, I don't think I can figure out what I didn't dig about this coconut milk. I have tried soy milk at different Starbucks locations and have found it to be quite pleasing, though I don't doubt there are similar additives in their soy milk.

For those who enjoy a daily mug or two of Starbucks coffee, if convenient, I would suggest bringing one's own thermos with a bit of almond milk and having fresh coffee added to it.

For more thoughts on coffee and its place in a healthy diet, please feel free to view:

If You Drink Coffee

 
 

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Comments

I have found that their coconut milk has a laxitive effect on my daughter and me. I always get the white chocolate mocha and she gets the kid's hot chocolate. My mother who tolerates small amounts of dairy and store bought and cartoned coconut milk, CANNOT digest this coconut milk. It gave her horrible gas and very obvious bloating and stomach cramps that lasted a full 24 hours. I am glad you brought up this subject. In live in south Texas so it's inconvenient to have to carry around a thermos with almond milk until I reach my closest Starbucks since I live out of city limits but I will give it a try because I do love their pumpkin spice and white chocolate mocha. :(

I wish you would do some research on carrageenan. I have read some scary things on the internet about it. That it causes inflammation, that's it's extremely unhealthy. But here in the States, it's popping up in practically all dairy products. I have to constantly read the labels to make sure what I'm buying doesn't have it. Why do we need this ingredient anyway? It's made from Irish seaweed which has been used for centuries for medicinal purposes. But, of course, when big corporations get a hold of something, the way they process things turn something healthful to something dangerous. I'm afraid this will turn into a problem like trans fat. We'll find out later how bad it is.

I really like the idea, mentioned above, of bringing a bit of one's own dairy-milk replacement (in my case either a brand of soy I like or coconut without additives). For the latter, Aroy-D makes a canned coconut milk containing 60% coconut extract and water, period. We keep it in the fridge and use the thick part for "cream" on deserts and in cooking, but with added water, it's good in coffee as well.

I would not recommend this type of coconut milk, too many additive including sugar :(
There are brands like AROY-D that has only coconut extract and water, nothing else.Starbucks take note.
Here is a report about carrageenan and how bad it is by Natural News http://www.naturalnews.com/051296_almond_milk_carrageenan_alternative_be...

I buy "SO" C.Milk at Costco. It has the USDA Organic label on the carton. However, they list more ingredients. (Hummm) It's okay but has that watered down texture to it. Use it in my Oat Meal thus texture not a problem.
Ciao
de.Bill.H