WHICH STRAWBERRY ICE CREAMS ARE CLOSEST TO HOMEMADE?
STRAWBERRY ICE CREAMS — CLOSEST TO HOMEMADE®
Information updated June 2023
Homemade Strawberry Ice Cream is made using Dairy, Sugar, Strawberries, Egg Yolks and possibly Vanilla Extract. We can use this as a reference as we look at manufactured Strawberry Ice Creams.
BREYERS STRAWBERRY ICE CREAM contains a couple of ingredients which are Not In Kitchen™ >> ingredients we would never use at home to make Strawberry Ice Cream >> Whey and Tara Gum which is a Stabilizing Thickening Agent. (Source for ingredients: Unilever Breyers Web site 6/23)
Seen below, Whole Foods 365 Strawberry Ice Cream has multiple ingredients which do not need to be there including three Stabilizing Thickening Agents, commercial Organic Natural Flavors, Nonfat Dry Milk and Citric Acid which is an FDA-recognized preservative (Source: U.S. FDA 2023) Although the Citric Acid is likely included to mimic the tartness of real strawberries, it is — nonetheless — a manufactured preservative. (Source for ingredients: Amazon Whole Foods Web site 6/23)
FRONERI EDY’S/DREYER’S COMPARISON: These are the same product with different branding and both contain multiple ingredients we would never use at home to make Ice Cream. (Sources: PAI Partners Froneri Dreyer’s and Edy’s Web sites 6/23)
Seen below, FERRERO BLUE BUNNY DOUBLE STRAWBERRY SWIRL IS NOT REAL ICE CREAM. A certain “Standard of Identity” must be met to call something Ice Cream and this product does not meet that standard so it must legally be referred to as “Frozen Dairy Dessert”. (Source for ingredients: Ferrero Blue Bunny Web site 6/23) It’s no surprise this Blue Bunny is not real ice cream when it has three ingredients banned at Whole Foods, seven Stabilizing Thickening Agents and multiple other ingredients Not In Kitchen. (Source for banned ingredients: Amazon Whole Foods Web site 6/23)
Following are four slides of ingredients Not In Kitchen in 11 brands of Strawberry Ice Cream:
Seen below, TURKEY HILL STRAWBERRIES & CREAM COMPARISON: There are two different options >> here’s a comparison of the Base Brand vs. the Simply Natural version. The Base Brand of Turkey Hill Strawberries & Cream — below left — has numerous ingredients not in homemade ice cream and is banned at Whole Foods for the inclusion of Artificial Color Red #40. The Simply Natural ice cream — below right — has a better ingredient profile with the exception of commercial Natural Strawberry Flavor. (Source for ingredients: Peak Rock Capital Turkey Hill Web site 12/23)
Shown below, Turkey Hill Simply Natural Strawberries & Cream and Straus Family Creamery Organic Strawberry would be Closest To Homemade® if they did not contain added Flavor(s). (Source for ingredients: Straus Family Creamery Organic Web site 12/23)
CLOSEST TO HOMEMADE: Following are four Strawberry Ice Creams which are Closest To Homemade including Vermont-made Strafford Organic Creamery with all Organic ingredients; Morgenstern’s NYC-based Small Batch Smooth ‘N Delicious Strawberry; Van Leeuwen Strawberry French Ice Cream and Häagen-Dazs Strawberry. (Sources for ingredients: Brand Web sites and Whole Foods Web site 6/23)
Neither money nor products are ever accepted to appear on the Closest To Homemade list
Discover more food + beverages whose ingredients are Closest To Homemade in 275+ categories. Neither money nor products are ever accepted to appear on the Closest To Homemade list.
Contact and follow us at:
