Ice Cream Takes a Calorie-Loaded Licking

Consumer Group Says Some Frozen Treats Are 'Coronaries in Cones'

July 23, 2003 -- Summer and ice cream may go together like vanilla and chocolate, but a new report shows some frozen confections served up at popular chains pack as many calories and saturated fat grams as a steak dinner with all the trimmings.

A study from the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) shows what used to be a 150-calorie treat has now mutated into a 1,200-calorie indulgence. Super-sized sundaes, shakes, and other specialty items not only contain multiple scoops of ice cream, but they're mixed with candies, cookies, brownies, and sugary sauces and then topped off with a generous serving of whipped cream and sprinkles.

"It's as if these ice cream shops were competing with each other to see who could inflict the greatest toll on our arteries and waistlines," says CSPI senior nutritionist Jayne Hurley, in a news release. "It's not just regular ice cream, but premium. It's not just one scoop, but two or three. It's not just a cone, but a chocolate-dipped waffle cone. It's not just hot fudge, nuts, and whipped cream, but every conceivable combination of cookie, candy, and chocolate."

The ice cream study is the latest in a series of CSPI reports that have highlighted the nutritional pitfalls of some of America's most popular foods, such as pizza, Chinese takeout, and movie theater popcorn.

And when it comes to America's favorite indulgences, it's hard to beat ice cream. According to the International Ice Cream Association, Americans spent more than $20 billion on frozen desserts and ice cream in 2001, and more than six out of every 10 dollars spent on ice cream are spent away from home at ice cream parlors, scoop shops, and other retail outlets.

A Coronary in a Cone

Aside from the high sugar content of most ice cream treats, researchers say premium ice creams are higher in artery-clogging saturated fats than their regular and reduced-fat counterparts.

The study showed some of the worst ice cream concoctions are dripping with more fat and calories than a full one-pound rack of ribs, two 12-ounce New York strip steaks, or nearly three McDonald's Quarter Pounders. For example:

• Häagen-Dazs' Mint Chip Dazzler -- With three scoops of mint chip ice cream, hot fudge, Oreos, chocolate sprinkles, and whipped cream, this portable sundae has 1,270 calories and 38 grams of saturated fat.
  
  
• Baskin Robbins' vanilla shake (large) -- At 24 ounces, this seemingly benign beverage still has 1,070 calories and 32 saturated fat grams.
  
  
• Cold Stone Creamery's Mud Pie Mojo -- A mix of coffee ice cream, roasted almonds, fudge, Oreos, peanut butter, and whipped topping with 1,180 calories and 26 grams of saturated fat.
  
  
• Friendly's Reese's Peanut Butter Cup Cyclone (large) -- Vanilla ice cream topped with creamy peanut butter sauce, hot fudge, marshmallows, whipped topping, sprinkles, and Reese's Pieces tipped the scales at 1,470 calories and 28 grams of saturated fat.
  
  
• Ben and Jerry's Brownie Special -- A brownie topped with vanilla ice cream, peanuts, hot fudge, and whipped cream has 1,020 calories and 22 grams of saturated fat.
  
  
• TCBY's Toffee Coffee Cappuccino Chiller (large) -- A concoction of frozen yogurt, milk, coffee flavoring, and whipped topping that contains 1,200 calories and 30 grams of saturated fat.

"Frozen yogurt is lower in fat than ice cream, but I doubt that people go into TCBY expecting the calories and saturated fat of two pork chops, a Caesar salad, and a buttered baked potato -- in a drink," says Hurley.

The fat and calorie counts in the CSPI's analysis came from nutrition information provided by the vendors and through CSPI-commissioned, independent laboratory analyses of items for which nutrition information was unavailable.

Choose Your Ice Cream Wisely

The good news is that researchers also found that many ice cream chains offer reduced-fat ice creams, frozen yogurt, sherbet, or sorbet with only 100-200 calories in a single scoop and little or no saturated fat compared with premium ice creams that have 250-350 calories and about 10 grams of saturated fat.

But registered dietitian Althea Zanecosky says if ice cream is what you really crave, there's no reason you have to give it up completely.

"Maybe this report will make people look twice, like they have at the other foods out there, and say portion size is really the major factor here," Zanecosky tells WebMD. "And as long as they are aware of that, most Americans can probably scale their ice cream habits to smaller portions and yet still be happy."

Zanecosky says most people can afford 250-300 calories for their treat for the day, and it's something people should build into a daily food plan. But it's also important to stick to that plan and not overindulge. To keep ice cream splurges within reason, she recommends:

Stick with a single scoop of ice cream when eating out.

Try a lower-calorie frozen yogurt or sorbet and see if it fulfills your craving for a cool treat.

If ice cream is a problem food for you, don't keep it in the house.

Use small scoop of ice cream as a topping for fresh fruit and berries rather than the other way around.

"If you're really going to get biggest bang for your ice cream buck, sit down, like with any other treat, and focus your 100% attention on that ice cream," says Zanecosky, who is a spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association. "Enjoy it so that a scoop will last a lot longer than if you are driving, walking down the boardwalk, or doing all the things that people do while eating ice cream."

SOURCES: Nutrition Action Newsletter, July/August 2003. News release, Center for Science in the Public Interest. Althea Zanecosky, RD, spokeswoman, American Dietetic Association. News release, International Ice Cream Association.

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