The Curious Case of the Fat Free Ice Cream


I love ice cream. Coffee ice cream is my favorite, and if it has brownie chunks and fudge swirls, that's even better! So I was very excited when I found above carton in my freezer last night. I had enjoyed a nice bowl of this ice cream before I examined the carton and realized that it was fat free ice cream. How is that even possible??? I looked at the ingredients, and to my dismay, this list had at least 40 ingredients. I'm a big fan of Michael Pollan and his famous dietary advice: "Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants." One of his ways to define exactly how to eat food (rather than edible food-like products) is to "avoid food products that contain ingredients that are A) unfamiliar, B) unpronounceable, C) more than five in number, and D) containing high fructose corn syrup." With ingredients like "propylene glyco mono esters," it's pretty safe to say this product fails the first two rules. Reading this list made me feel like I was studying organic chemistry again.... not very appetizing. It also has had way more than five ingredients, including high fructose corn syrup. I realize that most of the ice creams I buy probably fail to meet the standards to be a real food according to Michael Pollan, but this one seemed exceptionally processed and artificial due to all the fat replacers that were required to make this a fat-free product. 

Also, this ice cream was made by Breyer's, a company that usually prides itself on being "all natural" and actually makes fun of other companies that use tons of food additives. Check out this old Breyer's commercial from the 1980s:
So what do you think: is it healthier to eat a high-fat dessert or to eat a high-chemical dessert???

The strangest part of this ice cream experience is that no one in my family admits to buying it. We do not typically buy fat free desserts, and no one knows where this came from! So I have no idea why this ice cream was in our freezer, or if I should even be eating it because of all the additives, but will I keep eating it? Probably (ok, definitely). This fake excuse for a frozen dessert actually tastes delicious! But next time I am at the store I will look for something more natural. 

Now onto some truly good eats! (AKA real food!)

Mom, sister, and I went to a Mittie's Tea Room Cafe in Roswell for lunch. It was located in a cute historic building near the Roswell square. They had really fresh salad, homemade quiches, soups, sandwiches, and a great selection of loose leaf teas. Also, their menu stated that much of there ingredients were organic.

Mom and I got mango black tea :)

Mom got the crab quiche and I got the organic spinach and portabella quiche. This is the salad that came on the side...mixed greens with walnuts, dried cranberries, tomatoes, and cucumbers. It came with the house balsamic dressing, which was amazing!


Sister's sandwich: peach marinated chicken with cheese, lettuce, tomato, and onion on a croissant.

Hope you all get to enjoy some delicious real food today! And I'm very curious to hear opinions on the ice cream...

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I say high fat real foods in moderation.

Anonymous said...

Hi Ella - thanks for your comment on my blog! I have to tell you, Ella is my #1 favorite girl's name, but I've never known anyone to have it. :-)

And I'm all for real food vs. chemicals.

Hayley said...

I've always wondered about this ice-cream, and I must say now that I know, I don't think I would ever buy it. Real food is always better than chemically processed, even if it's loaded with fat and calories.

Leah said...

I'd rather eat a little bit of the real deal, than a whole lot of the fake stuff.