The summer is also, for many ice cream lovers, the season of cones, bowls and tubs to buy and enjoy at home. But what should we be careful of if we want to choose a higher quality packaged ice cream?
Don't store avocado like this: it's dangerousThe summer is also, for many ice cream lovers, the season of cones, bowls and tubs to buy and enjoy at home. But what should we be careful of if we want to choose a packaged ice cream of higher quality?
Fresh, tasty and loved by children, cream ice creams (chocolate, cream, cream, stracciatella, etc.) are often the most popular even if they are higher in calories and fat than the fruit variants. If we go to the supermarket in the frozen food department, we find various shopping possibilities and it is not always easy to find your way around.
Again to make an informed choice it is good to read the labels and nutritional values of the individual products and only then decide what convinces us the most. In short, let's not be duped by phrases, photos and packaging but let's go and see the essential, or what is inside what we bring to the table.
A good ice cream it shouldn't contain a long list of ingredients but unfortunately this is often not the case. The alternative is always to prepare an excellent ice cream at home (even without an ice cream parlor) starting from ingredients that you can choose of excellent quality and of biological origin. Here are some recipes you can take inspiration from:
- HOME MADE GELATO: 7 WAYS TO PREPARE IT WITHOUT ICE CREAM AND 5 RECIPES
- 10 VEGAN ICE CREAMS TO PREPARE AT HOME
- HOW TO MAKE GELATO WITHOUT ICE CREAM
Let's put it now in comparison the best known and most used ice creams packed in trays, the ones that you probably also have at home or have ever bought.
Index
ICE CREAM IN TRAYS, LABELS IN COMPARISON
Dark chocolate - Carte D'or
ingredients: Dark chocolate ice cream (2% dark chocolate with 70% Ecuadorian cocoa solids) with dark chocolate pieces (70% Ecuadorian cocoa solids) (2,5%). Ingredients: rehydrated skimmed MILK, sugar, skimmed cocoa powder¹, coconut oil, glucose syrup, glucose-fructose syrup, cocoa mass¹, LACTOSE and MILK proteins, emulsifiers (mono- and diglycerides of fatty acids, phosphatides of ammonium), thickeners (carob seed flour, guar gum, carrageenan), EGG yolk, soft WHEAT flour, HAZELNUT paste. May contain: other nuts and peanuts. ¹Cacao Rainforest Alliance ™ Certified.
Cream and Chocolate La Cremeria - Motta
ingredients: Rehydrated skimmed milk, sugar, glucose syrup, vegetable oils (palm, coconut), dextrose, low-fat cocoa 2,5%, whey powder, egg yolk 1,5%, cocoa mass, thickeners ( carob seeds, guar gum, carrageenan), emulsifiers (mono- and diglycerides of fatty acids, soy lecithins), cocoa butter, natural flavors, carrot extract. May contain nuts.
Chocolate and lactose-free stracciatella La Cremeria - Motta
ingredients: Rehydrated skimmed milk, glucose syrup, sugar, coconut oil, dextrose, low fat cocoa, cocoa mass, cocoa butter, thickener (locust bean gum, guar gum, carrageenan), emulsifier (mono- and diglycerides of acids fats, soy lecithins), skimmed milk powder, natural flavors, natural vanilla flavor. May contain eggs, nuts. LACTOSE FREE (Lactose <0,1 g / 100g). The product contains glucose and galactose as a consequence of the breakdown of lactose.
Cream - Sammontana jar
ingredients: Rehydrated skimmed milk - Fresh pasteurized cream (12%) - Dextrose - Butter - Glucose syrup - Sugar - Emulsifier: mono and diglycerides of fatty acids - Stabilizers: sodium alginate, carob seed flour - Flavor.
Stracciatella ice cream - Granarolo
ingredients: High Quality pasteurized fresh whole milk (in compliance with DM 185/91) 60%, cream of milk 15%, sugar, chocolate flakes 10% (sugar, cocoa mass, skim cocoa powder, anhydrous butter, lecithin emulsifier soy, natural flavoring), glucose syrup, dextrose, milk proteins, skimmed milk powder, butter, emulsifiers: mono and diglycerides of fatty acids, stabilizers: carob seed flour, guar gum, carrageenan.
Belgian chocolate - Häagen-Dazs
ingredients: cream, skimmed milk, dark chocolate (Belgian chocolate, sugar, cocoa butter, soy lecithin, vanilla), sugar, egg yolks, cocoa processed with alkali, vanilla extract. Chocolate pieces with vegetable oil: Belgian chocolate (sugar, chocolate, cocoa butter, soy lecithin, natural flavor), cottonseed oil, coconut oil. Contains: milk, egg and soy ingredients.
Extra dark chocolate mother ice cream - Majani
ingredients: Made with only 5 ingredients: 1 - High quality fresh whole milk, 2 - Cream, 3 - Sugar, 4 - Extra fine 10% dark chocolate (with min.85% of Carenero Venezuela variety cocoa, sugar), 5 - Low-fat cocoa , It may contain traces of eggs and nuts, GLUTEN FREE
Viviverde organic ice cream - Coop
ingredients: * Fresh cream (42,2%), * Fresh whole milk (30%), * Sugar, * Egg yolk (5%), * Low-fat milk powder, * Organic
Panna bio - G7
ingredients: Cream (49,5%), high quality fresh whole milk, sugar, skimmed milk powder. Contains the following allergens: Milk and milk derivatives. It may contain traces of: Eggs, Nuts
White cocoa ice cream - Valsoia
ingredients: soy extract (65%) (water, soybeans (8,2%), sea salt), dextrose, sugar, glucose syrup, vegetable fat (coconut), low-fat cocoa (2,5%), cocoa drops (0,75%) (cocoa mass, sugar, coconut oil, cocoa butter, emulsifier: soy lecithin, natural vanilla flavoring), emulsifiers: mono- and diglycerides of fatty acids - sucrose esters of fatty acids, stabilizers: sodium alginate - locust bean gum - guar gum, flavorings.
Read also the other comparisons on the products we have already made:
- FRUIT YOGURT: WHICH AND HOW TO CHOOSE?
- HAZELNUT SPREADABLE CREAMS: WHICH AND HOW TO CHOOSE?
- HOMOGENIZED FRUIT: WHICH AND HOW TO CHOOSE?
- BREADSTICKS: WHICH AND HOW TO CHOOSE?
- READY PASTA PASTA: WHICH AND HOW TO CHOOSE?
- JAMS AND JAMS: WHICH AND HOW TO CHOOSE?
- COMPARING COOKIES: WHICH COOKIES AND HOW TO CHOOSE?
- DARK CHOCOLATE: WHICH AND HOW TO CHOOSE?
- READY PESTO ALLA GENOVESE: WHICH AND HOW TO CHOOSE?
- COMPARING RED ORANGE FRUIT JUICES: WHICH AND HOW TO CHOOSE?
- VEGETABLE NUT: WHICH AND HOW TO CHOOSE? VEGETABLE NUT: WHICH AND HOW TO CHOOSE?
ICE CREAM IN TRAYS, COMPARATIVE TABLE
Now let's compare specifically in the different tubs of cream ice cream: the amount of sugar and saturated fat, the type of milk and / or cream used, the other ingredients present and the caloric intake per 100 grams of product. This comparison table will make it easier for you.
For the enlarged table click here
ICE CREAM IN TRAYS, THE EXPERT'S OPINION
We asked Roberta Martinoli, doctor and nutritionist, to give us some useful advice to choose a good quality ice cream tub. Here's what he told us:
“One hundred grams of cream ice cream provides on average 200 kcal, 3,9 grams of protein, 21 grams of carbohydrates (all simple) and 12 grams of fat (mostly saturated). The same amount of fruit ice cream has a calorie intake of 130 kcal and provides 1,5 grams of protein, 28,8 grams of carbohydrates and 1,8 grams of fat. In both cases it is certainly not a "diet" food but those who prefer fruit flavors have an advantage. There is no doubt that ice cream is a food that it is addictive as it acts at the level of our dopaminergic reward system. A bundle of neurons located at the base of the brain, through long axonal projections, sends dopamine (the neurotransmitter of pleasure) both at the level of the neofrontal cortex and at the level of the limbic system every time we sit in front of a tub of ice cream. And that is why we have the feeling of not being able to control the impulse. The food industry then with the invention of the "bliss point" does not help us ".
What is meant by Bliss Point?
"Bliss point literally means'point of bliss'and consists of a well-balanced mix of fats, sugars and salts such as to send the taste buds into ecstasy. In other words, the bliss point is the formula invented by the industry to be able to induce dependence on this or that other food. Not to mention that the same mix of fats, sugars and salts has a great impact on our metabolic system. The concept is that of energy partitioning, a cacophonic translation of the English expression energy partitioning. Is eating only sugar or only fat the same thing for our body as eating sugar and fat at the same time? The question is rhetorical and the answer is no. When we eat sugar and fat together we are more likely to turn all this energy into storage fat. The other big limitation of ice cream in tubs is that the concept of portion is no longer valid. If passing in front of an ice cream parlor we feel like ice cream we have to choose whether to take two or three flavors. On the contrary, the tray gives us the freedom to abound with quantities, which happens regularly. Therefore, if you choose to have a tub of ice cream in the freezer, we must impose some rules. We will not eat it every night and we will use a bowl that will help us to calibrate the quantity so as not to exceed (never eat directly from the tray also in order to avoid bacterial contamination). "
How can we choose a better product?
“When we are in the supermarket in front of the vast offer of brands and flavors we must not forget that we have a valid tool that guides us in our choice. This is obviously thenutritional label. Reading it we will realize that they are there ice creams that contain "milk" and others that contain "fresh milk". In the first case it could be a powdered milk. Better not to choose them. Nor does the presence of hydrogenated vegetable oils or fats (margarines), among all the most atherogenic. Aromas, thickeners, emulsifiers, dyes unfortunately never lack. Among the thickeners, the carrageenan extracted from a red alga. This substance could cause intestinal inflammation. L'E141 is a dye based on chlorophyll and copper used to give an unlikely green color to pistachio ice cream. Its presence is indicative of the fact that there are very few real pistachios in that ice cream. L'E160b it is used instead for hazelnut ice cream and could cause allergies. Polypropenylglycol, on the other hand, is an anti-freeze substance. Since there is no agreement regarding its harmlessness, it would be better to avoid ice creams that contain it ".
If you feel like a nice ice cream you have several alternatives: buy a packaged one but first read the label carefully, go to an artisan ice cream parlor or even prepare it yourself at home.
