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Real whole-foods cream can elevate a simple treat into a sumptuous, decadent dessert—but not all ice cream brands incorporate genuine cream in their recipes. A number of supermarket ice creams are loaded with every additive imaginable, yet lack anything resembling cream. For example, McConnell’s Golden State Vanilla is made with cream, nonfat milk, cane sugar, egg yolks, vanilla extract, and annatto extract. Other brands, however, don’t follow suit. So which brands eschew real cream in their products (even if they still taste good)? Here are seven ice cream brands that exclude real cream in their creations.
Turkey Hill
Turkey Hill Brownie Fudge Swirl’s closest approach to real cream is the inclusion of whey, which contains “2% or less of cream,” as per the ingredients label. The remaining components consist of a long list of highly processed elements such as artificial flavors, colors, and preservatives, although the brand does offer some promising products. The Turkey Hill Simply Natural Belgian Style Chocolate is a commendable choice, with cream featured as the primary ingredient.
Great Value Chocolate Ice Cream
Walmart’s Great Value Chocolate Ice Cream incorporates sweet cream buttermilk, yet lacks actual cream. The rest of the ingredients list isn’t much preferable, filled with additives, preservatives, gums, and stabilizers. A superior choice would be the Great Value All Natural, which prominently lists milk and cream as its first two ingredients.
Member’s Mark Vanilla Ice Cream
Member’s Mark Vanilla Ice Cream does not contain cream and also loses points for ingredients like high fructose corn syrup, artificial flavors, and gums. Luckily Sam’s Club has plenty of other options available for ice cream lovers who want the real deal, like the Haagen-Dazs Vanilla Milk Chocolate Almond Ice Cream Bars.
Klondike Frozen Strawberry Shortcake Cones
Klondike Frozen Strawberry Shortcake Cones do not contain any cream, but they do contain over 160 other not-great ingredients including glucose-fructose syrup and carrageenan. The Klondike Vanilla Ice Cream Sandwich isn’t much better in terms of ultraprocessed ingredients but at least it contains cream.
Edy’s Vanilla Frozen Dairy Dessert
Edy’s Vanilla Frozen Dairy Dessert has skim milk as the first ingredient, but no cream at all. This frozen dessert also contains corn syrup and guar gum, more ultraprocessed ingredients and additives.
Friendly’s Butter Pecan
Friendly’s Butter Pecan Ice Cream contains no cream, and is packed with additives and preservatives. It does have pecans and buttermilk, for those who want a frozen dessert-type treat that has nuts in it. Otherwise, pass.
N!ck’s Triple Chocolate Brownie
N!ck’s Triple Chocolate Brownie looks amazing but the ingredients are anything but. This ice cream contains ingredients like erythritol and other artificial sweeteners, plus gums and stabilizers. The butter ingredient is made from pasteurized cream and salt, but that’s it for anything approaching cream.
