Traditionally, vanilla ice cream is made from a few simple ingredients: fresh milk, cream, egg yolks, sugar and vanilla. These ingredients are frozen and aerated to make ice cream.
But many store-bought ice creams have long ingredient lists and not what you might expect.
We looked at popular vanilla ice creams, including Hu00e4agen-Dazs, Carte D’Or, Ben & Jerry’s, and Wall’s. Of the 24 we looked at, five contained no cream, no fresh milk, and no vanilla. Seven were missing at least one of these key ingredients. That left only 50% of those vanilla ice creams we looked at listing fresh milk, vanilla, and cream on their label.
Ice creams without fresh milk, cream or vanilla
The five ice creams that had no trace of fresh milk, cream or vanilla were Asda, Ms Molly’s, Morrisons, Tesco and Wall’s.
Ice creams with fresh milk, cream and vanilla
Of the 12 ice creams that contained all three traditional ingredients, including popular brands Green & Blacks and Ben & Jerry’s, the ice cream with the most authentic ingredients was Hu00e4agen-Dazs vanilla which contains only: fresh cream (39%), milk condensed skim cream, sugar, egg yolk and vanilla extract and costs £9.13 a litre.
Ice creams with some of the key ingredients
Seven of the ice creams we reviewed were missing at least one of the key ingredients we were looking for. Carte D’Or, for example, contains vanilla, but no fresh cream or milk. On the flip side, Asda Soft Scoop Cornish Vanilla Ice Cream does not contain vanilla but you will find fresh cream and fresh milk in the ingredients list.
The extras in your ice cream
So if your vanilla ice cream is missing one or more of the traditional ingredients, what do you get instead?
Cream and milk are often replaced with partially reconstituted skimmed milk powder and in some cases with whey protein. Whey is what is left over from the milk when making cheese. Traditionally, this was considered wasteful, but is now used for protein drinks. In ice cream it is used as a filler, and in “milk ice cream” it counts for milk protein (see below).
Vanilla is often replaced by a generic “flavor”. If it’s not specified as a “natural flavor,” it most likely comes from vanillin, a synthetically produced vanilla flavor.
vanilla vs vanilla flavored
Do you know there is a difference between something labeled vanilla flavoring and vanilla flavoring? If the small print says “vanilla flavored ice cream,” the flavor isn’t from real vanilla but from an artificial flavor. If it says “vanilla ice cream,” then the vanilla must have come from real vanilla.
Other “extra” ingredients we found in our ice creams included vegetable fats, such as palm oil, coconut oil and palm kernel oil – mostly in soft scoop, cheaper brands and branded varieties own, but also in Carte D’Or. These oils often replace actual cream because they are cheaper, but still give a smooth, creamy texture.
Water is the main ingredient in Tesco’s vanilla ice cream, followed by sugar, reconstituted skimmed milk powder and powdered buttermilk.
Definition of ice cream
Until 2015, a product labeled “ice cream” in the UK had to contain at least 5% milk fat and 2.5% milk protein. However, since the introduction of the Food Information Regulations in 2015, these rules no longer apply.
There are now industry standards, and a product labeled “milk ice cream” must contain at least 5 percent fat, some dairy-based protein, and no vegetable fats.
But there are no requirements that must be met before something can be called “ice cream.” This means that vegan products can now be called ice cream, and manufacturers can reformulate to reduce fat, but still call their products ice cream. On the other hand, it also means that even cheaper products made with lower quality ingredients can be labeled as ice cream.
What is clear is that not all ice cream is created equal and if you want to know how authentic yours is check out the ingredients list or make your own.
#Revealed #Vanilla #ice #creams #fresh #cream #milk #vanilla
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