I scream, you scream, we all scream for FROZEN DAIRY DESSERT!?! ...What the HELL!!!!

I saw this story on the news last night and it shocked the hell out of me that so-called ice cream producers could be trying to pass this crap off to us right beside the real stuff in the ice cream isle. Apparently, in order to save a few bucks, or if you believe the "ice cream" company execs, due to customer demand , they've changed the recipe for their ice cream to the point that even the FDA no longer recognizes it as "ice cream" anymore.

Ice Cream’s Identity Crisis

that age-old Breyers boast of “All Natural” has been replaced with “Quality,” which is one of those impressive words that loses impact the more you think about it.

Lastly, not all Breyers is what we once understood the name to mean. A Breyers carton in the store’s freezer might be ice cream, but the Breyers carton right beside it, identical in nearly every way, might be something called “frozen dairy dessert” — which, when translated from the original Orwell, means: not ice cream.

You might ask what the difference is between ice cream and a frozen dairy dessert, and I might answer that it is the same as the difference between a slice of American cheese and a slice of Kraft Singles American Pasteurized Prepared Cheese Product. Since this is not helpful, we turn to a spokeswoman for the Food and Drug Administration, the guardian of “standards of identity,” who explained the distinction in a written response: “Ice cream requires specific levels of milk fat content, nonfat milk solids content, total solids in each gallon of ice cream, and total weight in each gallon of ice cream, while frozen dairy products do not.”

In general, ice cream has at least 10 percent dairy fat, and a frozen dairy dessert does not. In my freezer, the Breyers vanilla fudge twirl frozen dairy dessert has the ubiquitous corn syrup, and the Breyers vanilla ice cream does not.

NY Times

The company says that consumer demand prompted the change although, many remain sceptical.

So why did Breyers make the change on so many of its flavors? Here’s what Bach thinks.

“I am convinced that Breyers did this change over with most of its flavors as a cost cutting measure,” said Bach.

The company says it makes frozen dairy dessert because it’s “blended in a whole new way to create a smoother texture.” It “tends to have less fat” than ice cream and the company says in a national side by side taste test “our fans like the new recipe just as much as the original.”

3 On Your Side: Not Quite Ice Cream

I just thank God my local news station decided to air this expose just in time for the warming weather when I'll start to go down to the ice cream isle in my local super market so I will be warned to check the label before buying anything that purports to be "ice cream". By the way, it looks like Turkey Hill has jumped on the "frozen dairy dessert" bandwagon as well, so you had better look twice, no matter what brand of ice cream you pick up in the store.

As always, when buying food in America; let the buyer beware.

reply to post by FortAnthem

Originally posted by FortAnthem
As always, when buying food in America; let the buyer beware.

Agreed. When buying ANYTHING, be skeptical and read the labels! And vote for truth in labeling. I take twice as long to shop because my glasses are strung around my neck and I read the labels!

I would for love for people to stop buying products that are not what they seem. It seems many companies are selling snake oil instead of anything good. To be honest I don't know how different frozen dairy dessert will be different from ice cream because of all the junk and high sugar in the food. Scary what people eat and don't realize effects them badly.

reply to post by Benevolent Heretic


I've been noticing for a while that some ice creams just seemed a bit off, like they're more crystally when they melt, if that makes any sense. I never even thought that the ice cream producers may have changed their recipes.

This vid shows that the new Frozen Dairy Dessert stuff doesn't even melt properly, even when left out overnight!

reply to post by FortAnthem


I rarely eat ice cream, and when I do, it's Häagen-Dazs. And I'm considering buying my own ice cream maker so I can make it with coconut milk and know exactly what's in it.

reply to post by FortAnthem


I cannot believe how nasty that looks. To be honest as an American only a small hand full of people really produce and/or make their own food. You have to spend your hard earn money for highly priced cheaply produced processed food that is not good for you. I believe everyone should simplify their lives and live much better than being a brainless consumer. Companies need us to survive. We do not need to respect that way of life. As humans our health should be a number one priority.

I don't trust anything in a tub! Luckily there's a nice ice cream shop near
me what make it fresh. So if I do fancy a ice cream session I just go there. Does not surprise me though. Nearly as bad as the pretend chocolate they make now!

reply to post by FortAnthem
Aaaaaahhh.......brings back memories of the olden days of Mellorine!

Remember when the Mellorine was in the cooler next to the ice cream and more people bought it because it was like half the price of real ice cream? In those days every nickel counted. I remember my parent's house note (including insurance and tax escrow) was $35 per month on a 3 bedroom, 2 bath brick home with built on garage and sitting on a full acre of land. It's a shame that those kind of prices can't make a come back along with the Mellorine, but it's fun remembering!

For those too young to remember:
Mellorine

Blech. Breyer's was one of the very few "national brands" of mass-produced food that I allowed into my family's diet once in a blue moon because the ingredients could be easily read and identified.

Time to pull out the good old Lickety Split machine. I like my lemon ice cream better than anything they could make anyway.

reply to post by Benevolent Heretic


Good Idea, BH.....and use some coconut oil, too...make it even richer and yummier.

I'm so glad FA posted this....the container looks so much the same...and who would think they would be so sneaky with their quality.
Going for a half gallon...to 1.75 quarts, to 1.5 quarts....guess they cannot make it any smaller....so now they are substituting ingredients

Thanks for the OP. Was in the mood to buy something along the lines of frozen dairy dessert today anyway. So when I get to the market I start reading labels. The closest acceptable product I found seems to be new on our shelves is gelato by Talenti. Saltwater Caramel was my choice. Price wise just as comparable to the fake stuff. Thanks again for the heads up.

reply to post by FortAnthem


Thanks for the info friend. We ususally go with blue bell. I do not eat icecream much, it hurts my tummy. My son and hubby on the other hand, love icecream. And yes I know, bluebell does have artifial flavors.

I love when my mother in law makes fruit icecream.

And I just read the ingredients off of our bluebell tub, and it made me have a frown face.

Well...I do believe I will be researching icecreams now. There is a family run yogurt shop up the street that we like to go to and they sell tubs of the frozen yogurt. Maybe I could check out what kind of ingredients they use.

Anyway, thanks again.
~nat

What!!

I find myself looking at label more now than I ever did! It seems like they sneak these ingredient changes in and never tell you! I want ice cream not made up ice cream!

Cut costs? They charge $6.99 at my store for a gallon of this stuff, so I don't see how they are hurting! They are making a nice chunk o' change on their product. I remember when you could get Breyer's for $3.99!! I recently just finished their Chocolate Ice Cream with Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. It was the one pregnancy craving i had and it was darn good but now I probably will never eat it again..

Ugh...i wish these companies would STOP doing this! Nothing is the same as it originally was!

My mom and I were having a discussion about food ingredients being altered and Monsanto. She doesn't realize that many things are NOT the same as they were from when she was younger and even when I was younger. She knows of Monsanto and i had to let her know how BAD they are because she thought they were fine! I am actually attempting to go to the world wide walk against them next week. It's in the town I grew up in which really surprised me. It's such a small town I didn't think they'd have it there but it tells me the people there know what's up! i can't wait to move back!


Good Bye Breyer's it was nice knowing you.

reply to post by FortAnthem


Omg that is just disgusting! REAL ice cream would have melted in less than an hour!

Looks like i need to start making my own ice cream.

Originally posted by SunflowerStar
Thanks for the OP. Was in the mood to buy something along the lines of frozen dairy dessert today anyway. So when I get to the market I start reading labels. The closest acceptable product I found seems to be new on our shelves is gelato by Talenti. Saltwater Caramel was my choice. Price wise just as comparable to the fake stuff. Thanks again for the heads up.

OHHH that Talenti is SOOOOO good! I like the black raspberry with chocolate chip! I usually buy that but I was weak and got some Breyer's Chocolate Reese's Cup a couple weeks ago...darn pregnancy craving! Our local grocery store will have those Talenti BOGO and that is when I buy they. They are so good. I even keep the container, makes for good "tupperware."

My favorite fake ingredient in this product. Carrageenan as one of the thickeners. What is wrong with these people, aren't they capable of investigating the negative aspects of an ingredient before adding a bunch of it to a product? Ingredients no longer have to be listed in order of concentrations on products either, that is voluntary. Sugar can be the last ingredient and still be the main component of the product.....legally.

I was at the store today, a more or less glorified produce/meat market.
They do sell dairy products including ice cream.

I didn't have time to read the labels, but saw that only one flavor of Breyers was Frozen Dairy Dessert: the Oreo flovor.
The others I saw still said Ice Cream.

Edy's also had at least one flavor of Frozen Dairy Dessert....so pay attention to labels....

reply to post by DontTreadOnMe


Odd you mention it was Oreo. I bought some Oreo ice cream, or so I thought, a few months back and I didn't eat it. I had one bowl and winded up tossing the rest of it. It sat in the freezer. I thought it tasted funny and my fiancee said it was just me. It just didn't taste like the creamy Oreo ice cream I was use to. I thought it was my taste buds from pregnancy maybe, but now I really wonder! I will look at the label when I go to the store again.

Originally posted by TheDoctor46
I don't trust anything in a tub! Luckily there's a nice ice cream shop near
me what make it fresh. So if I do fancy a ice cream session I just go there. Does not surprise me though. Nearly as bad as the pretend chocolate they make now!

There is an ice cream shop here in my town that makes it fresh as well. The sad thing is, I looked at the label not too long ago (some local grocery stores stock this company's ice cream) and you would think it was just another big name company. There was high-fructose corn syrup and this kind of gum and color # whatever and I can't remember what else!

I have seen an off-brand before that said "frozen dairy dessert" on the tub. My wife and I were wondering just how much of it was actually dairy. It's pretty bad when something as simple as ice cream barely contains the cream part.

I didn't realize the big names were doing it now! Shows how much ice cream I eat.

I Love eating ice-creams. We generally eat it from the nearby shop from our home. Chocolate ice-creams are the most favorites of mine as I am a huge chocolate freak.