A large iced original coffee, with four shots of milk, 12 teaspoons of sugar and 17 pumps of pumpkin swirl syrup, is a custom drink order that has gone viral on TikTok.
Since being posted in September, the drink—for “Destiny R.”—has attracted nearly 20 million views. According to calculations by Levity, a weight loss company, it contains an estimated 1,077 calories.
“It’s the staggering amount of sugar that raises concern,” said Dr. Ashwin Sharma, medical communications manager at Levity, in a statement. “With the equivalent of about 12 donuts’ worth of sugar in this beverage, it can lead to a quick spike in blood sugar levels and potential long-term health issues, especially if this customer is consuming drinks like this regularly.”
One comment, with 280,000 likes, said: “Destiny [about] to meet her destiny,” and another, with 330,000 likes, said: “this is a sugar scrub.”
The TikTok content creator who posted the video, @foodmake2022, is a Dunkin’ Donuts staff member who regularly shares customers’ sugary custom orders.
Other TikTok accounts do the same at similar chains like Starbucks, showing drinks that customers order that aren’t on the companies’ menus and often contain copious syrups, sugars and sweeteners.
On @foodmake2022’s page, there’s French vanilla iced coffee, which Levity estimated contains 1,381 calories. It has five creams, six shots of blueberry flavoring, 12 pumps of French vanilla swirl syrup and 21 teaspoons of sugar.
There’s also an order of marshmallow potion macchiato with 18 pumps of marshmallow ube swirl, two shots of vanilla flavoring, four shots of hazelnut, four shots of blueberry, four shots of coconut, 12 teaspoons of sugar and skim milk. Levity guessed the dink contains 1,687 calories.
Newsweek reached out to Dunkin’ Donuts for comment via email.
Nutritional therapist Rakhi Lad of Healthology Hub told Newsweek this drink order was “a shocker.”
“This drink packs almost an entire day’s worth of energy into a single cup,” she said. “Beyond the calorie count, drinks like this can lead to blood sugar spikes, energy crashes and, over time, more serious health issues like weight gain and insulin resistance.”
Lad described the ingredients list of this custom drink as “a cocktail of artificial additives, syrups and ultra-processed components, offering little to no nutritional value.”
Sharma said that, while the drink may satisfy a person’s sweet tooth, it was far from a healthy choice, containing the equivalent sugar of about 10 donuts.
Similar videos keep coming.
On Wednesday, @foodmake2022 posted a custom drink order for Pete D. that has already attracted nearly 400,000 views: a large cold brew with 12 peppermint mocha swirls, four packets of sweetener, 18 teaspoons of sugar, and skim milk.
On November 18, a custom order for Sabrina G.—now with 1.5 million views—featured iced coffee with 19 shots of caramel swirl, 18 teaspoons of sugar, a sweetener packet and five servings of cream.
“These custom drinks are harmful to health because they’re not just sugary, they’re packed with a huge amount of syrups, artificial flavorings and colorings, and other calorie-dense ingredients in a single serving,” Mei Wan, a registered dietitian, nutritionist and Levity consultant, told Newsweek.
“Consuming such a large amount of sugar at once will cause a rapid spike in blood sugar levels, which can be harmful to your body, especially if you drink them regularly,” she said.
“Over time, this can increase the risk of developing metabolic conditions like obesity, type 2 diabetes and heart disease.”
Wan said that these drinks should, at most, be consumed as “a rare treat rather than a regular habit”—but even then, she said, drinking that amount of sugar in one sitting wasn’t healthy for anyone and would be “tricky” to include as part of an otherwise healthy diet without compromising overall health.
Lad said: “For those with a sweet tooth, indulgence doesn’t have to mean excess. It’s entirely possible to enjoy a treat that satisfies without overwhelming your body with unnecessary sugar, additives and empty calories.”
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