As the fall season rolls around and the smell of Yankee Candles fill every Danville home, the appetite for pumpkin begins to creep up as well.

Americans love their Thanksgiving, along with their pumpkin pie. Americans seem to love pumpkin so much, that you can get practically anything “pumpkin flavored” during the fall season.

Walking into any supermarket and all I see is pumpkin. Pumpkin flavored pop-tarts, cookies, candy bars, cereal, chips, and pumpkin seeds doused in sea salt and even jalapeño flavoring.

The average human consumes about five pounds of pumpkin each year, usually during the October through December period. What’s shocking isn’t that it’s five pounds that we put into our system, its that pumpkin is available throughout the year, yet America seems to disregard that fact all together.

Starbucks has taken advantage of the American addiction to pumpkin, making their Pumpkin Spice Latte quite popular and only available during the fall quarter.

Before stating my opinion on a Starbucks’ drink, let me confess I am not an avid Starbucks drinker,  nor coffee drinker. In fact, upon coming up with this topic, I had not drank the infamous Pumpkin Spice Latte. So, I made it my mission to visit a local Starbucks and taste the morsel myself.

There I was: waiting for my latte in the dark corner as the line in Starbucks unraveled at the door. I had already felt ashamed that the 24 year-old barista did not know my name. I was a foreigner here, and trying my best not to enjoy the smell of fresh ground coffee beans.

One thing is for sure, the Pumpkin Spice Latte is sweet. For all the sweet tooth’s, it’s probably even super sweet for you. Although it is a latte, it does not have that coffee taste to it (as least not as much as a regular vanilla latte does). With the whipped cream and “pumpkin spices” that top it, it taste as if pumpkin pie has been crushed and mixed into the drink.

But, just tasting the latte  would not satisfy my research. I decided to do some digging and find out what it contained inside.

The first ingredient: no real pumpkin! The Pumpkin Spice Latte did a superb job at  deceiving my taste buds. Practically nothing in the latte is real. Artificial flavoring, caramel coloring, Monsanto milk (made with cows fed soy and GMO products), and pesticides and sulfites to top it off.

But what did I expect? It isn’t possible that a latte could physically taste so pleasing if it wasn’t pumped with unnatural ingredients, right? Not necessarily. While Starbucks is prideful on the various drinks that have made them accumulate fame, they are hesitant when asked about the exact ingredients.

Vani Hari, author of the Food Babe website, intensely researched the Pumpkin Spice Latte and found Starbucks was less than willing to divulge its ingredients, receiving this email:

“While we understand that some customers would like to know the nutrition information for their specific customized beverage, unfortunately we are unable to provide this level of detail for every beverage customization request. The beverage information that is available on Starbucks.com reflects the beverage offerings currently on our menu with the most common customization options.”

Although Starbucks’ drinks are not the most healthy choice to choose during the holiday  season, what really is? The holiday  season is characterized with sweets, and the average American gains one pound or more during this time.

Chances are, you are not going to suffer from any health complications if you happen to have the Pumpkin Spice Latte.

*For the full list of  ingrediants: http://foodbabe.com/2014/08/25/starbucks-pumpkin-spice-latte/