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Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte

haleym

By haleym
in Coping with Celiac Disease

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haleym Contributor
haleym
Posted

Anyone ever have issues after having a pumpkin spice latte from starbucks. I drink soy, so I have a double short soy pumpkin spice latte with no whip. I had the exact thing a week earlier and was OK, but this time I got bloated! Any ideas? Is there malt extract in it?

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JillianLindsay Enthusiast
JillianLindsay
Posted

Personally I stay away from Starbucks. I've tried to contact them inquiring about gluten-free options and keep getting the same automatic response:

"In regards to your inquiry, we are unable to indicate any handcrafted beverage or unpackaged food item as being "gluten-free" unless it is specifically produced and packaged to meet gluten-free requirements (such as gluten-free KIND Bars). I apologize for any inconvenience.

As a reminder, nutritional information and the main ingredients for many of our beverages can be found online at Open Original Shared Link "

I told them their nutrition information does not answer my questions and got the exact same email back again with no answer to my question, so I decided to save my money and take my business elsewhere.

They always give the same disclaimer:

"Please note that nutrition and ingredient information is provided by the suppliers who manufacture food and beverage products for Starbucks Coffee Company.Starbucks attempts to provide product information that is as complete as possible. Variations may exist due to periodic changes in formulations. Serving sizes may vary from those used to calculate nutrition information. New product introduction or product changes may cause the information to be incomplete. All of our non-packaged food products are produced and stored in environments where known allergens are present. Some items may not be available in all locations. Data is rounded to meet current U.S. FDA NLEA guidelines. Percentage data for vitamins and minerals refers to percentage of recommended US daily values for a 2,000 calorie diet. Caffeine information is approximate and is based on limited analytical data. These values reflect Starbucks standard brewing methods. Values can vary greatly depending on factors including the variety of the coffee and the brewing equipment used. The handcrafted nature of our beverages may result in a variation from the reported values."

So one day your latte could be fine and another it could have cc. They were unwilling to help me and are unwilling to make any effort to provide gluten-free beverages so I decided not to return.

Good luck whatever you decide to do :)

Hopefully someone else has better answers than I do.

Jillian

Anyone ever have issues after having a pumpkin spice latte from starbucks. I drink soy, so I have a double short soy pumpkin spice latte with no whip. I had the exact thing a week earlier and was OK, but this time I got bloated! Any ideas? Is there malt extract in it?
wschmucks Contributor
wschmucks
Posted

The pumpkin spice latte is Gluten Free :-) All of their flavoring syrups are gluten free (but the vanilla shaker next to the lids...is NOT gluten free!).

  • 4 weeks later...
LeeAnn Balbirona Newbie
LeeAnn Balbirona
Posted
The pumpkin spice latte is Gluten Free :-) All of their flavoring syrups are gluten free (but the vanilla shaker next to the lids...is NOT gluten free!).

I had a reaction to the Pumpkin Spice Latte this week as well. My face got all blotchy and red, I felt foggy and a bit fevered. It's the second time I'd had it in the past week. Took me halfway through the second cup to really figure it out. Whatever it is in there--caramel coloring, some dusting of flavored powder or spice--it didn't like me.

And now I see they've discontinued with gluten-free Valencia Orange cake too?! Grr, Starbucks, you irk me.

tarnalberry Community Regular
tarnalberry
Posted

It is gluten free, but they have ingredients which go into the frappe (some blended beverage) which isn't. If you're particularly sensitive to cross-contamination, you may want to ask (during a not-too-busy time) that they wash the implements that they're using for you, as they usually just rinse between beverages.

BTW, for everyone who's frustrated at their email response - call them. They are quite helpful over the phone.

BKKloppenborg Newbie
BKKloppenborg
Posted
I had a reaction to the Pumpkin Spice Latte this week as well. My face got all blotchy and red, I felt foggy and a bit fevered. It's the second time I'd had it in the past week. Took me halfway through the second cup to really figure it out. Whatever it is in there--caramel coloring, some dusting of flavored powder or spice--it didn't like me.

And now I see they've discontinued with gluten-free Valencia Orange cake too?! Grr, Starbucks, you irk me.

I know what you mean. I have worked at Starbucks for over 5 years now. I cannot eat anything at our store except kind bars, fruit bowl, and others. I am going to talk to my DM about how Starbucks is so behind compared to others. I know both the DM and RM so I know I will be heard feel free to pm me and or add questions or comments and I will relay them or try to help you out anyway I can. It just drives me nuts that Syarbucks knows almost nothing about this.

Kathleen Smith Contributor
Kathleen Smith
Posted
I had a reaction to the Pumpkin Spice Latte this week as well. My face got all blotchy and red, I felt foggy and a bit fevered. It's the second time I'd had it in the past week. Took me halfway through the second cup to really figure it out. Whatever it is in there--caramel coloring, some dusting of flavored powder or spice--it didn't like me.

And now I see they've discontinued with gluten-free Valencia Orange cake too?! Grr, Starbucks, you irk me.

Hi! started staying away from flavored latte's like vanilla b/c I looked at the syrup ingrediant (not at Starbucks at Wegmans) and it said Carmel coloring. I got nervous and gave my latte to my friend. Anyone have clarifications on carmel coloring? Soda has it too but everyone says Diet Pepsi, Coke and Dr Pepper are okay

Any info is appreciated! Thanks

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Lexi Enthusiast
Lexi
Posted

I have been trying to figure out if Starbucks flavorings and syrups are gluten free for the longest time now. If it is true, that they are indeed gluten free - I still have one more problem. I can't do dairy or soy. Do you think they would make my drink with Coconut milk if I bring it in?

haleym Contributor
haleym
Posted
  • Author
I have been trying to figure out if Starbucks flavorings and syrups are gluten free for the longest time now. If it is true, that they are indeed gluten free - I still have one more problem. I can't do dairy or soy. Do you think they would make my drink with Coconut milk if I bring it in?

Hmmm... tough to tell... they probably wont. But when I managed an espresso shop (a mom and pop business, very independent!) I made sure to keep rice milk on hand. There are even a few places that do hemp milk. Explore some of the smaller shops if you can, and do write starbucks to start doing hemp, rice, or coconut milk!

BUT- the squeaky wheel gets the grease. Give it a shot, Ill keep my fingers crossed!

celiac-mommy Collaborator
celiac-mommy
Posted
Do you think they would make my drink with Coconut milk if I bring it in?

I tried this. The gal hemmed and hawed about it, finally said ok, but was very leery of doing it. They weren't busy at the time, so it wasn't a big deal. Basically she told me she'd do it this once, but it probably wouldn't be a normal occurance-she was super nice about it though. If I'm craving a pumpkin spice latte, I will bring in my own milk heated up in my own cup and then order 2 shots with 2 pumps of pumpkin spice syrup, that works great too!

I agree with what TB said above, I've had nothing but great experiences over the phone with their customer service reps.

butterfl8 Rookie
butterfl8
Posted

I love how we know more than some of the employees at the store do. I went there Monday and asked if the caramel apple spice was gluten-free. They looked at the bottles, told me the ingredients, and let me know that although there were artificial flavors and natural flavors in the caramel syrup, at least there were natural flavors. I let the kind woman know that wheat, barley, and rye were very natural. At that point, the other server said that water was gluten-free. And that water and the 'Kind Bars' were there only gluten-free items in the whole place. Thank you to this wonderful forum for helping me to figure out what I could have, if I want to go back again. . .

-Daisy

  • 2 weeks later...
positivenrgfairy Apprentice
positivenrgfairy
Posted

I'm addicted to the pumpkin spice latte, but have accidentally been magically glutened by starbucks too many times, and im starting my withdrawal process tomorrow.

foodiegurl Collaborator
foodiegurl
Posted

Interesting. Gosh, I have been drinking chai lattes there for years and have been fine. I have never tried a latte though. The iced passion green tea and hot chocolate are some of my favorites too.

Frances03 Enthusiast
Frances03
Posted

I got a recipe from Libby's in the mail today for making your own gluten free pumkin latte. I can post it if anyone wants it. I don't drink coffee but I noticed a lot of talk about this drink lately :)

skyepie Newbie
skyepie
Posted

As a 2 latte-a-day Starbucks addict, I have never been glutened by a beverage there! I drink sugar-free hazelnut lattes, pumpkin spice lattes, iced americanos and mochas.

  • 3 weeks later...
swimgal81 Newbie
swimgal81
Posted

Hi,

Does anyone know if the starbucks syrups are gluten free?(this includes the starbucks Fontana syrups as well)?

I have had a difficult time communicating with the company themselves, as they "cannot gurantee" any of their products are "gluten free" due to the risk of cross-contamination.

Thank you!

Regards,

Olivia

  • 1 year later...
Nic Newbie
Nic
Posted

I have been trying to figure out if Starbucks flavorings and syrups are gluten free for the longest time now. If it is true, that they are indeed gluten free - I still have one more problem. I can't do dairy or soy. Do you think they would make my drink with Coconut milk if I bring it in?

Most likely not as people with coconut allergies have severe reactions to coconut residue. Soy and dairy usually is an intolerance as opposed to an allergy, but tree nut allergies are like peanut allergies.

  • 1 year later...
Sarah Katherine Newbie
Sarah Katherine
Posted

Hi! Two things. 1.No cafe should be steaming coconut or any nut milk as it can trigger anaphylaxis. Lactaid and rice milk should be fine, though. We did it at the Starbucks I worked at.

2. PSL is probably gluten free, however the SPICE they put on top sometimes is probably NOT gluten free. The barista won't always put it on top which may be why you'd react one day and not the next. Always ask without the spice on top. I do this and have no problem.

I have been trying to figure out if Starbucks flavorings and syrups are gluten free for the longest time now. If it is true, that they are indeed gluten free - I still have one more problem. I can't do dairy or soy. Do you think they would make my drink with Coconut milk if I bring it in?

kareng Grand Master
kareng
Posted

Most of the info on this thread is several years old. Products change often so get current info for the Starbucks syrups. Most Starbucks will let you read the ingredients on the syrup bottle.

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