Starbucks is a convenient stop to make for a cup of coffee or tea and a protein-filled meal in the morning – or any time of day. Its 24/7 breakfast menu is substantial, including oatmeal, yogurt, and a selection of hot items like sandwiches, wraps, and bites, all of which feature cage-free eggs as a main ingredient. But how real are Starbucks’ eggs? Whether you’ve ordered the Egg, Pesto, & Mozzarella Sandwich, the Bacon, Gouda, & Egg Sandwich, or the Impossible Breakfast Sandwich, you are getting actual eggs.
However, beyond the eggs, you’re getting a lot more than you likely are aware. When you crack an egg into your pan at home, you know exactly what you’re getting: An egg, and whatever cooking oil and add-ins you throw in with it. But at Starbucks, the ingredient list is not so clean-cut. In fact, there are a number of additives included in these tasty meals, many of which aren’t even recognizable.
What’s hiding inside of Starbucks’ eggs, and why?
Starbucks’ Double-Smoked Bacon, Cheddar, & Egg Sandwich features not just an egg patty, but milk, modified food starch, which is known to thicken foods, salt, and citric acid, which is often used to maintain a food’s color. Its Turkey Bacon, Cheddar, & Egg White Sandwich includes milk, corn starch, salt, and black pepper. Meanwhile, its Sausage, Cheddar, & Egg Sandwich has even more ingredients in its scrambled egg patty, including whey, nonfat milk, soybean oil, and butter flavor, as well as the less-commonly-known leavening agent dicalcium phosphate, sodium bicarbonate — likely for fluffiness — thickeners like xanthan gum and guar gum, and liquid pepper extract. Talk about a mouthful in the worst way. Even Starbucks’ wraps have lengthy ingredient lists.
Its Spinach, Feta, & Egg White Wrap features an egg white omelet with whey powder, corn starch, nonfat dry milk, salt, a couple of thickeners, and liquid pepper extract. As for its Bacon, Sausage, & Egg Wrap, that includes many of those same add-ins, plus modified food starch, skim milk, and soybean oil. The eggs in its Egg Bites, aside from its egg white option, are a bit more straightforward, featuring just eggs, water, and citric acid. As for the Egg White & Roasted Red Pepper Egg Bites, they contain cottage cheese, along with three different kinds of milk, whey, salt, maltodextrin and carrageenan, which are both thickeners, and monoglycerides and diglycerides, which are emulsifiers, among several other ingredients.
