Pumpkin season is here.
Taylor Swift isn’t the only person having an orange moment. Starbucks’ iconic Pumpkin Spice Latte, or PSL, launches today. The coffee giant sells about 20 million of the drink every year, raking in an estimated $500 million annually.
Starbucks has sold about 500 million of this “season in a cup” since its debut in 2003, inspiring a thirst for other pumpkin spice products across multiple consumer product categories. And some of these treats can qualify as ultra-processed food, or UPF.
“Craveable” treats
The PSL isn’t the only food or beverage giving autumn – hundreds of other products with pumpkin and pumpkin spice flavors flood grocery aisles and coffee shops every fall.
Sometimes these products contain real vegetables and spices. In other cases, the orange shade and spicy flavor come from artificial, potentially harmful ingredients, such as artificial food coloring, titanium dioxide and high levels of sugar.
And if you think your first pumpkin spice treat of the day triggers cravings, you may be right. It is likely high in sugar and fat and ultra-processed. One study describes UPF as “craveable,” a reaction that can lead to excess calorie intake and weight gain.
Healthy or ultra-processed?
Part of the appeal of pumpkin spice is the coziness of its aroma, bringing to mind the warmth of back-to-school excitement, family gatherings, colorful leaves and other festivities, such as the fall and winter holidays.
We’ve been hardwired to associate pumpkin spices – usually cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, ginger and sometimes allspice – with all the goodness around this time of year.
Starbucks’ PSL tapped into the huge market for pumpkin products. Its original version fell into the UPF definition and didn’t even contain pumpkin. Today, the PSL does include pumpkin as an ingredient. But it’s also made with some potentially harmful ingredients, including carrageenan, natural flavors and excess sugar.
EWG’s free, searchable Food Scores database lists more than 100 other pumpkin spice–infused food and drink products and nearly 600 products containing pumpkin.
Food Scores, which rates products on their nutrition, ingredients and processing, doesn’t categorize the Starbucks grocery store version of its PSL as an “unhealthy” UPF. But it does classify other pumpkin and pumpkin spice products in the database that way.
Many of the pumpkin-adjacent products in Food Scores do contain the vegetable itself, though sometimes in small or very small quantities.
Study after study has found a connection between UPF – and specifically sugar and artificially sweetened beverages, including pumpkin-flavored food and drinks – and a range of health harms. These problems include higher rates of obesity, heart disease, Type 2 diabetes, mental illness and more.
The pumpkin products that Food Scores considers “unhealthy” fall into in the bottom half of products in the database based on EWG’s nutrition algorithm.
They are likely to contain one or more artificial food dyes and other harmful chemicals, such as BHA and BHT, TBHQ, titanium dioxide and multiple types of sweetener.
What are UPF?
UPF are usually made up of ingredients, produced mostly by industrial processes, that have been broken down and combined with additives through industrial techniques such as moulding and extrusion. Chips, sugary cereal, many types of flavored yogurt, soda and ready-to-eat meals fall into this category.
So do some coffee drinks. A pumpkin spice coffee may well be ultra-processed when prepared in a coffee shop. That’s because it could use a combination of coffee, sugar or other sweeteners, real or synthetic pumpkin, pumpkin spice, sometimes pumpkin syrup and whipped cream.
Ultra-processed and everywhere
Americans consume more UPF than any other country, and there are plenty of pumpkin-themed products that qualify. Beyond the PSL, autumnal pumpkin spice products include Krispy Kreme donuts, cupcakes, breakfast pastries and flavored coffee.
Just because some of these wide-ranging items might qualify as UPF doesn’t mean they – or some non-pumpkin products – are unhealthy. Food Scores recently introduced a flag to identify “unhealthy” UPF. Now you can easily look up a food or beverage and see at a glance how much of a priority it is to find an alternative, since some are worse than others for health.
The classification is based on the scientifically backed link between UPF consumption and a higher risk of several health problems, plus how we define “unhealthy ultra-processed food.”
Some household name brands sell “unhealthy” ultra-processed pumpkin-flavored food and drinks. Kellogg’s Special K Pumpkin Spice Cereal is one. Six Brach’s pumpkin-flavored products score either 9 or 10 because of ingredients such as natural flavor and artificial food coloring. Sometimes products mention pumpkin only near the bottom of the ingredients list but include it in the product’s name anyway.
Walmart sells Jordan’s Skinny Mixes Pumpkin Spice Sauce Topping, which rates 7 in Food Scores. Target’s Favorite Day Pumpkin Spice Cookies With Maple Flavored Frosting Baking Kit contains three artificial colors and the mystery ingredient “flavor.” That’s why Food Scores gives this item an 8.
The “pumpkin” often comes by way of artificial and natural flavor and color, such as Pillsbury Pumpkin Spice Bread Batter, which rates 7.
To distinguish “unhealthy” UPF from other UPF, look at the ingredients label – is the product highly sweetened, entirely lacking in whole, unprocessed or minimally processed ingredients? That’s one sign. Industrial sweeteners and artificial flavors on the ingredients list can also be a hint that something is up.
Regulatory state of play
It’s the federal government’s duty to protect us from harmful chemical exposure – it’s not our job to shop our way out of the problem. But lawmakers and regulators have largely failed, except at the state level.
Over 40 states have introduced or enacted legislation to ban or restrict use of certain chemicals in food sold within their borders.
They follow the example of California, which enacted two trailblazing laws restricting harmful food dye from public schools and banned four harmful chemicals entirely from food sold and produced in the state.
A third bill, under debate in the state Senate, would phase out certain UPF from meals served in public schools.
Make it healthier
To get a healthier pumpkin fix, try any of these ideas:
- DIY (or buy) a pumpkin spice mix to sprinkle into your coffee grounds or coffee for a homemade pumpkin spice coffee drink.
- Look for other ways to use pumpkin spice mix: on yogurt, roasted nuts, popcorn, cereal, baked goods, stewed fruit, and savory dishes, such as chili, hummus, roasted vegetables and pasta.
- Explore Food Scores for pumpkin products that aren’t considered unhealthy UPF, particularly those that score 1 or 2.
- Drink fewer coffee shop pumpkin drinks. While a PSL as an occasional treat won’t hurt you, the problem is a habit of more frequent consumption of bigger drinks. A medium-size PSL packs a lot of sugar (50 grams per medium-size PSL) – 50 grams, or about a quarter-cup – in addition to its other potentially harmful ingredients.
- Simplify your pumpkin spice drink order to keep the season warm while keeping your UPF exposure to a minimum:
- Ask for fewer syrup pumps or “half sweet.”
- Use real pumpkin puree + spices at home.
- Choose unsweetened milk alternatives and skip whipped cream.
- Try a DIY “pumpkin spice” coffee with cinnamon, nutmeg, and clove.
