This McDonald’s Drink Is Made With 4 Pounds of Sugar, Ex-Manager Reveals

A former McDonald's employee divulged information about one of the chain's most popular beverages that may make you think twice before sipping on it again. In a TikTok video that went viral, Nicole Weiser spilled the tea about the ingredient composition that makes McDonald's tea so sweet.

@mightyshelf #stitch with @princessannafit ♬ original sound – Nicole Weiser

The former Mickey D's employee said, "I was a manager at a McDonald's. I worked there for about three years." She explained that they kept the Sweet Tea in a red, four-gallon container and the unsweet tea in a green container of the same size. "For every four gallons of the red jug, the sweet tea, there was a full four-pound bag of sugar emptied into it," Weiser divulged. "One pound per gallon of tea." She admitted, "I stopped drinking the tea after I realized that. That's nasty."

Many of the video's viewers commented. One person said, "Knowing something is really sweet is different than knowing exactly how much sugar is in it." Another commenter wrote, "As a southerner…that's the reason we love McDonald's sweet tea."

According to the nutritional information on McDonald's website, a small-sized cup of brewed sweet tea contains 100 calories and 24 grams of sugar. That sugar sum is almost equivalent to the amount in a Snickers candy bar.

McDonald's sweet tea ingredients include medium invert sugar. According to the FDA, invert sugar is a liquified solution of partially inverted or inverted, partially refined or refined sucrose. It is odorless, colorless, and flavorless except for its sweetness.

Consuming excessive amounts of sugar may be harmful to your health. Mayo Clinic lists the potential problems associated with added sugar consumption as increased weight gain, heightened triglyceride levels, and tooth decay. In addition, the CDC states that too much sugar can lead to type 2 diabetes and heart disease.

To help you maintain a healthy diet, the FDA has set up dietary guidelines for Americans, recommending that your total daily calories from added sugars remain below ten percent. This percentage equates to 200 calories (50 grams) of added sugars per day for a daily 2,000 calorie diet.