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Researchers: Super-Sized Starbucks Drink Packs On Pounds

LOS ANGELES (CBS/AP) — How do you say "gluttony" in Italian?

Starting Monday, customers in the Southland and across the state will get their first jumbo jolt of Starbucks, but a new study suggests the drink could be a diet buster.

An analysis by Loyola University Health System in Chicago claims the Trenta cup size, which can pack as many as 230 calories a pop, could load up consumers with up to an extra 20 pounds a year.

Jessica Bartfield, an internal medicine and weight-loss specialist at Loyola's Gottlieb Memorial Hospital in Chicago, tells KFWB's Michael Shappee drinkers may risk extra calorie damage.

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"Be careful what you're ordering," Bartfield warns. "It's not an innocent drink, in that it can contribute to extra calories that will in turn contribute to weight gain.

"Bigger is not always better."

The new cup size that can be filled with just shy of a quart's worth of iced beverages such as coffee, tea and lemonade.

California residents are able to buy them beginning Feb. 1 and the nationwide rollout should be complete by May 3.


(TM and © Copyright 2010 CBS Local Media, a division of CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2010 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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