Posted on 08/11/2025 11:15:08 AM PDT by Red Badger
Unless you are in denial, you probably understand that ice cream isn’t a diet food. Although it is delicious and nothing beats a cool, sweet cone of the frozen dessert on a hot summer day, it isn’t going to help you shave inches off your waistline. However, that doesn’t mean all brands are equal regarding health. Some popular brands found at your local grocery store contain artificial ingredients, flavors, and preservatives. Here are 6 ice cream brands that are mostly air and additives.
1. Edy’s
Edy’s ice cream is delicious, but many artificial colors and additives are on the ingredient list. Tara Collingwood, MS, RDN, CSSD, LD/N, ACSM-CPT, a Board Certified Sports Dietitian and co-author of the Flat Belly Cookbook for Dummies, recently told us that the flavors are commonly made with polysorbate 80, carrageenan, and high-fructose corn syrup.
2. Kemps
Kemps is popular and tastes great, but the ingredient list isn’t the best and includes additives, artificial flavoring, and high fructose corn syrup. Guar gum, mono- and diglycerides, and carrageenan are a few of the worst culprits.
3. Great Value
Great Value ice cream at Walmart will definitely save you money, and shoppers maintain it is delicious. However, you might be compromising your health. Collingwood explains that Walmart can sell it for less than most of the competition because they keep costs down with “synthetic colorings, assorted emulsifiers, and titanium dioxide for extra whiteness.”
4. Blue Bunny
Blue Bunny is readily available at most stores across the country. However, the popular ice cream uses additives, artificial flavors, and high fructose corn syrup in its pints. Certain flavors are healthier and made with higher quality ingredients compared to others, so make sure to check the label of the flavor. Vanilla, for example, is made with just milk, cream, sugar, egg yolks, and vanilla.
5. Turkey Hill
Turkey Hill is another big national brand of ice cream that offers a lot of bang for the buck in terms of taste. However, it is made with ingredients similar to Kemps and Blue Bunny: artificial food coloring, cellulose gel, cellulose gum, soybean oil, and mono- and diglycerides, just a few of the names on the ingredients list, which also includes high fructose corn syrup.
6. Blue Ribbon Classics
If you have done any research on ice cream, you probably already know that many of kinds of frozen treats you consider ice cream, actually aren’t. Collingwood points out that Blue Ribbon Classics, a popular grocery store ice cream, is marketed as “frozen dairy desserts” and is “not true ice cream.” Ingredients include dairy milk solids, palm kernel oil, high-fructose corn syrup, artificial colors(Yellow 5, Blue 1), and artificial flavors.
I liked High’s dairy store and Gifford’s ice cream way back in the sixties when I lived-in Falls Church.
Breyers or Hersheys. Perrys is in third place for regular non premium ice cream.
I eat either Kroger brand, or HEB (Creamy Creations) brands.
Every once in a while I’ll splurge on some Blue Bell if it’s a flavor I can’t get/find in HEB or Kroger brand. But, that’s extremely rare.
Then maybe I’ll try it for the first time.
I will do that!
Ben and Jerry’s is the best mainstream brand. Don’t worry, those two clowns dont own it anymore.
Try some REAL ice cream, even better, HOMEMADE!..............
Almost all ice cream is about 50% air except for more expensive brands as Häagen-Dazs and Ben and Jerry's, which does not mean you are getting more for the $. Butterfat % is a main factor in taste, with cheapo being the legal min. of 10% or 12%, w/ brands as Häagen-Dazs,and Ben and Jerry's being about 14%. The family farm where I worked for years it was 16%, and 42% solids.
But ice cream melts, and souls live forever, God had a higher call. Thanks be to God.
We usually buy Braums ice cream. Butter pecan ingredients:
Fresh Grade ‘A’ whole milk
sugar
cream
pecans
butter pecan flavor (natural flavor, caramel color)
stabilizer blend (monoglycerides, cellulose gel, cellulose gum, carrageenan)
natural color annatto
Whew
My fav not on list
Tillamook
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