Crumbl called out over 'garbage ingredients' in brownie that has sugar content of 11 donuts

Itay Shecter displaying Crumbl's Chocolate Peanut Butter Brownie.

The wildly popular cookie chain Crumbl is facing criticism online for a recent brownie flavor after one health blogger says it's packed with the sugar content of 11 Krispy Kreme donuts, not to mention a host of other ultra-processed ingredients and synthetic food colorings.

Health blogger Itay Shecter posted a video on social media this week breaking down some of the ingredients of the overly decadent brownie, which is made with Reese' Pieces, and musing about why a food store is selling an item that's made with an assortment of unhealthy components.

"This Reese's collaboration totaled 69 ultra-processed garbage ingredients, including hydrogenated oils, fillers, preservatives," Shecter says. "Who needs this and why?" he asks at the end of the 33-second video.

The Crumbl website lists the item as a "Chocolate Peanut Butter Brownie ft. REESE'S PIECES" and declares that all of its offerings are "made from scratch with fresh ingredients." However, when a potential customer attempts to click on the "view full nutrition and allergen info" tab on the item's page, it immediately directs to Crumbl's online order form.

According to Shecter, the brownie is made with red 40, yellow 5 and yellow 6 synthetic food coloring as well as another synthetic coloring known as blue 1, which has been shown to "cross the blood-brain barriers even in adults with mature barriers, potentially making the brain even more susceptible to metal toxicity," according to a 2022 study on ADHD in children. And all of that is on top of the 100 grams of sugar and 1,200 calories the pastry is packing.

As part of his MAHA agenda, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr has pressured food companies to phase out use of synthetic food dyes. Some have agreed to do so, but artificial dyes are still widespread in an assortment of food products, as Shecter's scathing video points out. Below, watch Schecter's video.