The ‘Freakshake’ (A Recent Product That I Have Come Across)

So I was reading a news article the other day about something I hadn’t heard of before… A ‘freakshake’! By the look of it, a freakshake is a milkshake with a bunch of toppings (usually sweet) added on top of it. The result usually looks messy and delicious all at the same time. Some examples of toppings added are donuts, cones of ice cream and strawberries.

The article was about a certain group calling for a ban on these freakshakes in the UK. Why would people want to ban such a concoction of yummy ingredients? It was because of the frankly insane amount of sugar and calorie levels that they contained. Apparently this group did a survey about these freakshakes and found that one restaurant was serving a freakshake that contained thirty-nine teaspoons of sugar. Thirty-nine! Imagine having that many teaspoons of sugar in one of your cups of coffee. You wouldn’t dare, right? To add to that, this freakshake, having all of that sugar, comes out at a scary 1,280 calories. You could equate this to roughly the amount of calories you get from both your breakfast and your lunch, all in just one milkshake.

Despite how unhealthy these freakshakes are I do have to admit that they look really tasty! Honestly I have a bit of a sweet tooth. I eat more chocolate bars, ice cream and biscuits than is healthy for me (as do many of us, I’m sure). However, looking at the pictures of these monstrous yet magical creations, I don’t think I could actually drink one of these things! Come to think of it, do you ‘drink’ a freakshake or do you ‘eat’ it? There’s a mix of solids and liquids in the ingredients so it’s hard to tell. For the time being let’s just use the word ‘consume’! Anyway, there’s just too much sweetness to it. A regular milkshake with a bit of ice cream is often sweet enough, let alone having all of the other ingredients thrown on top.

Whether I’d consume a freakshake or not is beside the point, though. The fact is that there are people who do. It brings into question, have our eating habits gotten really out of hand? The fact that people are eating something that has sugar levels so far beyond what is recommended for us on a daily basis, in a single serving, is something that should give us pause.

There is something to be said for the level of creativity that goes into designing a freakshake, though. They seem to have interesting and colorful designs that stimulate both your eyes and your stomach at the same time. Also, they are Instagram-ready.

Would you try one of these freakshakes? They really do look delicious. I recommend that you look up pictures of these ‘beasts’ to see what I mean! Even with how unhealthy they are, perhaps they wouldn’t have a big impact on our health if we only had one on a very rare basis. I’m not sure, but presented with the opportunity myself, I could imagine myself giving the freakshake a go, though I don’t think that I’d be able to finish it!

Thomas

Vocabulary

equate (v) ? to consider one thing to be the same as or equal to another
sweet tooth (n) ? a great liking for sweet tasting foods
come to think of it (phrase) ? an expression used when something is realised
beside the point (idiom) ? not relevant to the main topic
give one pause (idiom) ? to make someone hesitate about something