Why You Should Think Twice About Getting The Strawberry Shake At In-N-Out

They're advertised as being made "with real ice cream," per In-N-Out, and one Redditor who said he worked at the fast food chain before said, "When I worked there 20 years ago it was just vanilla milk-like ice cream liquid (not frozen yet) from a cardboard milk carton type container. We would dump it in and it would freeze it. Strawberry and chocolate syrup lines added flavor. Vanilla was just vanilla."

So there must be something in that strawberry syrup, because — per In-N-Out, while all the milkshakes come in at a standard 15 oz, and their calorie counts aren't too far off — the restaurant's online nutrition count says a vanilla shake has 570 calories; the strawberry shake has 590 calories, while the chocolate shake has 580 calories — the strawberry shake carries a whopping 100 grams of sugar per serving, against its vanilla (50 grams of sugar) and chocolate (65 grams of sugar) counterparts.

Registered Dietitian Trista Best, MPH, RD, LD tells Mashed that the strawberry shake's sugar level alone was enough to give the treat a hard pass. "When it comes to In-N-Out's milkshake options, the main factor to consider is the added sugar, considering they are nearly equal in all other aspects. There is an especially drastic difference between the vanilla and strawberry shakes with the strawberry shake having double the amount of added sugar as the vanilla option," she said, adding that the sugar was likely "needed to create a sweet strawberry flavor."

Registered Dietician Trista Best tells Mashed that information about these sugar levels are critical, particularly for someone who might be suffering from diabetes or who might suffer from other chronic illnesses like heart disease, obesity, or inflammatory conditions. And even if you don't have a problem with sugar, Best feels "Everyone should watch their sugar intake and keep it around the CDC's suggested 10% of their calories a day. Based on a 2,000 calorie diet this would mean no more than 200 calories should come from added sugars. This number equates to 12 teaspoons or roughly 50 grams of sugar daily."

Unfortunately, it appears that In-N-Out strawberry milkshakes are the ones that appeals to social media users who had strong feelings about it they had to tweet to express themselves. "In-N-Out strawberry milkshake omg," one Twitter user wailed. "craving in n out strawberry milkshake," another Twitter user said. "the strawberry milkshakes from in n out are so good," a third Twitter user simply said.  

Best said that on the whole, it is wise to enjoy In-N-Out's milkshakes in moderation, and to consider halving the 15-ounce cup to mitigate the downside of taking so much sugar. If it were a rare occasion and the individual had no serious underlying medical conditions it would be fine to consume it alone. However, at 15 ounces it would be a great idea to split and but the calories, sugar, and fat in half," she tells Mashed.