6 Unhealthiest Coffee Creamers in Your Fridge
Coffee creamers are big business—Americans love their coffee, and they especially love their coffee creamers. While some creamers are made with whole food ingredients (for example, half-and-half) others are packed with unhealthy ingredients. Always check the label—even something as seemingly simple as heavy cream sometimes has carrageenan added. So what does unhealthiest mean in this context? If the creamer is packed full of additives, preservatives, and thickeners, is high in sugar (the American Heart Association recommends no more than 6 teaspoons of added sugar a day for women, and 9 teaspoons for men), it’s best to limit consumption. Essentially, the more ultraprocessed the creamer is, the more potential harm it can do to your health. Here are six of the unhealthiest coffee creamers in your fridge.
Coffee Mate Café Mocha
Coffee Mate’s Original Powder Coffee Creamer is one of those staple items many people grew up with. The powder is packed full of ingredients like corn syrup and vegetable oils, but at least it has zero added sugar. Meanwhile the Café Mocha Liquid Coffee Creamer has 5g of added sugar per serving (one serving is a tablespoon, which is silly, because there’s no way anyone is adding just one tablespoon!) and contains soybean oil, gums, carrageenan, and other additives. Tasty, yes, healthy, no.
International Delight French Vanilla
International Delight French Vanilla is made with thickeners, emulsifiers, stabilizers, and preservatives, and contains 5g of added sugar per tbsp serving. Customers in the review section also have complaints about the consistency of this creamer, saying it’s too thick and gluey.
Starbucks Maple Pecan Latte Inspired Creamer
Starbucks Maple Pecan Latte Inspired Creamer contains 5g of sugar per tbsp and ingredients such as gums, additives, and preservatives. You’re better off actually going to a Starbucks and getting a real coffee.
International Delight Caramel Macchiato
International Delight Caramel Macchiato contains a host of stabilizers, emulsifiers, and other unhealthy additives. These ingredients are linked to health issues like immune and digestive problems. For example, carrageenan is widely linked to gastro issues.
Dunkin’s Salted Caramel Creamer
The pros for Dunkin’s Salted Caramel is that it contains real skim milk, cane sugar, and cream. The cons are that it also contains artificial colors, flavors, additives, and gums. Again, there is 5g of added sugar per serving, which quickly adds up if you’re not measuring every drop.
Vanilla Flavored Almond Milk Coffee Creamer
Natural Bliss Vanilla Flavored Almond Milk Coffee Creamer is another coffee creamer with 5g of added sugar per tbsp. The pros? This creamer contains “extracts from real beans from Madagascar”, according to the company. The cons? Guar gum, gellan gum, and “natural” flavor. The Natural Bliss Sweet Cream Flavored Organic Coffee Creamer is a much healthier option.
