According to recent research, some vanilla ice creams found on supermarket shelves do not have vanilla at all.
A social media influencer, popular for his health videos, caused a stir this week after revealing that more than half of supermarket versions of the classic flavor do not contain traditional ingredients, such as vanilla, cream or even fresh milk.
Bringing to light a resurfaced investigation by the UK’s consumer watchdog, he told viewers that several products included oils from seeds such as palm, palm kernel and coconut.
These oils have long been vilified because they supposedly increase the risk of heart disease, obesity, and other illnesses.
Meanwhile, cream and milk were replaced by partially reconstituted skimmed milk powder or whey protein, and vanilla was often replaced by a general flavoring.
In it viral videoYouTuber Evan Edinger, who has more than 800,000 subscribers, noted that the use of oils in ice cream was not strictly prohibited in the United States.
However, most manufacturers choose to opt for higher quality ingredients to meet stricter legal requirements to allow them to use the ‘coveted ice cream label’.
The research, carried out in 2018 by consumer association Which?, found that one in five products examined did not have any of the three ingredients that shoppers can expect to find in vanilla ice cream.
A social media influencer, Evan Edinger, caused a stir this week after revealing that more than half of supermarket branded versions of the classic flavor do not contain the traditional ingredients vanilla, cream or even fresh milk.
Bringing to light the resurfaced investigation by the UK’s consumer watchdog, Edinger told viewers that several vanilla ice creams use seed oils such as palm, palm kernel and coconut.
Only half of the 24 products surveyed contained the three traditional ingredients.
Until 2015, any product labeled as ice cream had to contain at least five percent dairy fat and “at least” 2.5 percent dairy protein.
Now, however, since the introduction of the Food Information Regulation, UK manufacturers can choose to use vegetable oils for their fat content instead of cream.
There are currently no requirements for labeling an ice cream product.
Only those labeled “milk ice creams” must contain at least five percent milk fat, some dairy protein and no vegetable fats.
The move, the watchdog said, was to allow greater flexibility for product reformulation and innovation.
This has allowed vegan products or reduced-fat substitutes, such as Halo Top or Ben and Jerry’s Moo-phoria Light Ice Cream, to be sold as ice cream.
In the video, a soft tub of Morrisons brand vanilla chosen by Edinger contained a combination of coconut, palm stearin, palm and palm kernel oils.
The move has allowed vegan products or reduced-fat substitutes, such as Halo Top or Ben and Jerry’s Moo-phoria Light Ice Cream, to be sold as ice cream.
A soft tub of Morrisons brand vanilla chosen by Mr Edinger contained a combination of coconut, palm stearin, palm and palm kernel oils.
It also included “partially reconstituted concentrated skimmed milk, glucose syrup, sugar, whey powder, dextrose, emulsifiers and flavourings.”
“It’s not bad, it’s just not ice cream,” he said.
“It just tastes like very low quality ice cream with my dose of seed oils of the month.”
“Ice cream with a higher percentage of dairy fat is generally considered creamier, smoother, and subjectively much tastier.”
He added: ‘The United States is not immune to the use of these cheaper ingredients either.
‘In grocery stores you will find ice creams that also use vegetable oils and other fillers.
‘But the problem is that if a product doesn’t contain at least 10 percent milk fat, they can’t legally call it ice cream.
“That’s why many companies are choosing to use higher quality ingredients to maintain that coveted ice cream label.”
Palm oil has long been considered especially harmful to our health, as it contains high levels of saturated fat.
Meanwhile, emulsifiers are used in thousands of ultra-processed foods to help bind ingredients that don’t normally mix, such as oil and water.
But some experts have linked the increasing consumption of additives such as emulsifiers to an increase in early-onset bowel cancer and inflammatory bowel diseases such as Crohn’s disease and colitis.
In the UK, an increasing number of people have turned their backs on cow’s milk and opted for plant-based alternatives.
In recent years, allergy-related illnesses in children have increased, and the World Health Organization predicts that half of the world’s population will suffer from an allergy by 2025.
The latest government figures suggest that around 2.4 million adults are living with food allergies in the UK, and hospital admissions for severe reactions have more than tripled in the last 20 years.
The growing number of allergies in children includes those who cannot drink cow’s milk.