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" Holidays often seem like an excuse for food-service companies to trick us into eating things we normally wouldn&amp;#039;t (as opposed to drinking things we would normally love to). But the most egregious offender might also be one of the most enduringly popular: pumpkin, which finds its flavor (canned, mashed, candied) seeping into just about everything from October 31 to Christmas Day, from bread to coffee to beer. It all sounds vaguely delicious, until you can&amp;#039;t tell your pie from your lager, at which point it can get a little exhausting. In hopes that these chains will find more creative outlets for their seasonal creations, we&amp;#039;ve put together a list of the trend&amp;#039;s worst iterations below. Who knows? Maybe it&amp;#039;ll inspire you to try some nutmeg.   The Pumpkin Smash from Jamba Juice  Ever since McDonald&amp;#039;s cut into Jamba Juice&amp;#039;s business, the beverage chain seems increasingly desperate. Save your Jambacard until summer and avoid this milkshake-and-smoothie hybrid masquerading as health food, which in its original size contains 107 grams of sugar, doing for pumpkins what nature never dreamed possible. If you really need that sugar fix, there are more noble ways to go about it \u2014 at least eating 76 candy corns is honest, right?   Pumpkin Delights from Little Debbie Poor Little Debbie. Shunted to the periphery of the dessert connoisseur&amp;#039;s consciousness and forced to differentiate itself from the (clearly superior) Hostess brand, the company conceived of these strange little cookies, which it claims taste just like &amp;quot;a homemade pumpkin pie.&amp;quot; If only. Oh, if only.   Steve Tanner, BevReview.com   Pumpkin Pie Soda from Jones Soda Co. Even the mighty may fall. Jones, it should be said, makes some of the best bottled soda in the country, but this icy, cloyingly sweet beverage was not destined for greatness. Alas, the product was discontinued in 2005 for being, well, kind of gross. It lives on in the minds of those who tried it and, of course, in the annals of Internet infamy.    The Pumpkin Pie Blizzard from Dairy Queen What&amp;#039;s most disappointing about this particular Blizzard is that, as gluttonous as it may be, it&amp;#039;s still somehow underwhelming: Even as we want to look away, we can&amp;#039;t help but complain that there just aren&amp;#039;t enough crust pieces.    Mellowcreme Pumpkins from Brach&amp;#039;s Known as &amp;quot;candy corn&amp;#039;s cousin,&amp;quot; they&amp;#039;re the only item on the list not flavored with any actual pumpkin (they&amp;#039;re primarily made of corn syrup). Which means they&amp;#039;re purely decorative, and since they don&amp;#039;t even really look like pumpkins, you might as well just munch on some candy corn. Or better yet: jujubes.    Pumpkin Spice Latte from Starbucks Okay, it&amp;#039;s not bad. We just don&amp;#039;t understand why you would wait in line for twenty minutes listening to Sarah McLachlan songs when you could go to a diner down the street and enjoy a slice of pumpkin pie and a cup of coffee. We guarantee you&amp;#039;ll leave happier.    Pumpkin Beer We don&amp;#039;t care how many top ten lists are erected to laud the latest Thanksgiving brew: Pumpkin beer is not beer. Now try some Belgian-style ale.  All this week, Eat Like a Man is doling out some much-needed Halloween wisdom. Keep checking back for more ideas, like the only candy a man should ever eat and an official cocktail recipe. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.esquire.com/food-drink/a25675/worst-pumpkin-foods-102710/>