Video: Coffee Drinkers Can Count Calories Too

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COLUMBUS, Miss. (WCBI) – If you’re a coffee drinker, you’re about to learn a lot more about your cup of brew. Starbucks announced this week that they’re adding the calorie count to their menus.

Millions of people can’t seem to start their morning without a cup of coffee  and now Starbucks, the largest coffee company in the world, wants you to know just how many calories are in that drink.

Researchers say that Americans have been growing in size for the last 30 years and now Starbucks is rolling out a new menu that’ll count the calories for their customers. We wanted to find out if local coffee shops will follow suit.

“I’m not sure about it for our store. It would take a while to figure out all the calories. It would take a while to figure out all the calories. I mean that’s a long process to figure all that out but I think it’s a good idea. A lot of people are counting calories nowadays and people want to know ahead of time how to make a better choice,” says Danielle Rivera, who works at the Coffee House on 5th in Columbus.

When I asked coffee drinkers if knowing the calorie count of their drink would make any difference, the women seemed to be the most concerned about it.

“I actually think that’s pretty beneficial. For me, it’s natural to just immediately go for the lower numbers, whether it’s calories or prices so it would help me out a great deal in my orders,” says Rebekah Childers, a coffee drinker.

“A lot of women think it’s very important to know how many calories and probably some other details about how healthy their drinks are,” says coffee drinker Autumn Mason.

Workers at Coffee House on 5th Street say they don’t believe people will change their tastes even if the calorie count is visible.

“Honestly, I don’t think it’ll affect the business. If someone has come in for the last 3 years and has always gotten the mocha frappacino, I think they’re going to continue to do that even if the calories are right next to it,” says Rivera.

The AMA just announced this week that obesity has been classified as a disease and now Starbucks is joining other national restaurant chains in the battle against the bulge.

The FDA is still planning to require all national restaurant chains to post the calorie count on their menu.