6 Ice Cream Brands That Are Mostly Air and Additives [Surprise!]

Eat This! Not That!....... ^ | August 08, 2025 | Leah Groth

[married21]

Yes.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

I rarely buy ice cream, but if I have to I buy Breyer’s Vanilla.

On a hot summer day, I prefer a frozen fruit bar, though they’re not good for you, either. ;)

[dfwgator]

Check out Blue Bell.

---

With or without the Listeria?

[Red Badger]

“You can tell cheap ice cream by how fast it melts”

Yes..........................

[Brian Griffin]

“I wish ice cream companies had to post the WEIGHT of their product instead of just the VOLUME.”

One can take the carton over to the produce section and use the scale.

[fella]

Back in the last century in the small town(then) of Falls Church Virginia 2 Brothers ran a Frozen Custard stand that was the best iced treat I’ve ever had. They had 2 machines and made their custard where you could see it. If you bought more than a cone or a dish they would hand pack your carboard pint or quart tube as you watched. The people of that town still talk about that stand and how they miss it.

It was so good that people would wait in line in the snow to buy some.

[married21]

We get Tillamook here in Southern California. The Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough seems to fly off the freezer shelf at Ralphs.

[Allegra]

Yay - Blue Bell isn’t on the list. I don’t buy ice cream all that often, but when I do, it’s Blue Bell.

[Red Badger]

Blue Bell may make great ice cream, but their radio commercial here is annoying as hell.............

[xp38]

sounds racist to me :)

[Red Badger]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frozen_custard

[econjack]

It doesn’t mention one that has whipped air into its product, yet the headline points it out. Remember when a bar of soap was actually soap and not air? Dial brand said they changed the shape to keep it from slipping out of the user’s hand. Conveniently, it also came after people complained about the smaller, lighter, bar. So, it pumped air into the bar to make it look bigger. Remember when a link of sausage weighed a pound, now it’s 12-13 oz and a 12 oz bottle of shampoo contained no water. 3 pounds of coffee is now 32 oz and the list goes on and on. Just another form of inflation.

[Organic Panic]

I grew up in a high mountain resort area. You could always tell the cheap ice cream by the cartons bursting.

[Night Hides Not]

LOL, I rarely touch the stuff, thanks to Type 2. My usual dessert is a Granny Smith apple.

[ransomnote]

I recently bought a very easy to use ice cream maker. I haven't tried the egg recipes, but the standard dairy version is easy, there are no surprise ingredients and it takes about 15 minutes to make - I decide what goes in it. I did it because it's obvious ice cream in the store seems like it's increasingly similar to industrial waste. I recall reading about a popular brand of ice cream that does not melt, even when left on a counter for hours.

I looked up carageenan and discovered it's worse than I thought. All these years I recalled a professor sneering that people were afraid of carageenan, and it's just a product of seaweed. Well, the medical study on the product I read makes me avoid it in all foods, including the food I buy pets.

[Red Badger]

Seaweed full of mercury, industrial and human waste and carcinogens?

That kind of seaweed?.............

[CatOwner]

I believe all of Blue Bell’s ice creams have HFCS, including their “Homemade” Vanilla. I won’t eat their. A lot of ice creams are like that.

[Liz]

Homemade Chocolate Ice Cream / fast and easy

Ing 1 1/2 c whole milk 1/2 c best cocoa powder 1 c sugar 2 c h/cream 1 tsp vanilla

Steps Whisk/dissolve 1 1/2 c wh/milk, 1/2 c best unsweet cocoa powder, and c sugar. Fold in 2 c h/cream beaten w/ vanilla into stiff peaks. Refrigerate at least 30 min til completely cold; helps it freeze faster, improves texture, and allows the cocoa powder to become fully hydrated by milk and cream. Give one more gentle stir; freeze according to ice cream maker mfg—about 1 1/2 to 2 hours.

Store airtight at back of freezer to preserve flavor and texture. Straight from ice cream maker, it will have a soft-serve texture. Freezing an additional hour before serving will create a firmer texture.

Chef notes: Use any type of milk you have on hand; may not be as creamy, but recipe will still work. Get creative, try adding a teaspoon of instant coffee or espresso powder for a richer chocolate flavor. Add texture w/ caramel, marshmallows, chopped nuts, dried fruit, or broken-up pretzels—etc.

[Wuli]

Don’t buy any of them.

I get mine from a local farm related ice cream store. A little pricey but worth it.

[ProtectOurFreedom]

We still hold our noses and buy B&J “Baseball Nut” when it’s available. Yummy!