The other day my father brought home a tub of Edy’s (Dreyer’s) “Loaded” chocolate chip cookie dough flavor, and I noticed that it was very specifically labeled a “frozen dairy dessert” rather than an “ice cream”. Indeed, on the company’s website, the entire “Loaded” line is so labeled, but the other lines are not.
Okay, I understand saying “quiescently frozen confection” instead of “popsicle”, but clearly it’s not the case that some non-Nestlé company has managed to trademark “ice cream”. So is there some technical definition I’m missing? The stuff’s on ice, it’s got cream… what’s the problem?
There is a technical definition of “ice cream” by the FDA that involves ingredients and milk fat percentage. If they item doesn’t match the legal definition of ice cream, they can’t call it that.
*In fact, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has specific rules that define what can and can’t be labeled “ice cream.” To bear the “Meets USDA Ingredient Standard for Ice Cream” stamp, it has to contain at least 10 percent milk fat, and a minimum of six percent non-fat milk solids. A gallon has to weigh at least 4.5 pounds. *
From here.
“Ice cream” is a frozen food made from a mixture of dairy products, containing at least 10% milkfat.
“Reduced fat” ice cream contains at least 25% less total fat than the referenced product (either an average of leading brands, or the company’s own brand.)
“Light” ice cream contains at least 50% less total fat or 33% fewer calories than the referenced product (the average of leading regional or national brands.)
“Lowfat” ice cream contains a maximum of 3 grams of total fat per serving (1/2 cup).
“Nonfat” ice cream contains less than 0.5 grams of total fat per serving.
Note that “reduced” and “light” are somewhat nebulous as they’re defined in terms of reference to something else, but “lowfat” and “nonfat” are defined by measurements.
Also, “lowfat” is what used to be called “ice milk” until 1994 when the labeling laws were changed, and manufacturers were free to shed the “generic” low-quality sound of ice milk and change to the much more appealing lowfat description.
Good damned point. I never had any qualms when purchasing ice milk – it was cheaper than the “good stuff” and didn’t taste bad. You suddenly throw a low fat label on it, and now I avoid it like the plague.
First of all, “frozen dairy dessert” is a general term that includes ice cream. Why are the “loaded” desserts not ice cream? Note that the third ingredient is cream, and that the 2.5 grams of saturated fat per serving place it squarely in the “lowfat ice cream” category. According to the FDA (21CFR135.110):
And therein, I think, lies the answer. These part-skim “loaded ice creams” don’t contain enough milkfat or non-milkfat milk solids to be considered ice cream, but contain too much fat from the “bulky ingredients” to be lowfat anything. Only the general term “frozen dairy dessert” is expansive enough to cover it.
