Money blog: The ‘disruptive’ ingredients added to ice cream – and how you can save teaspoons of sugar by switching to the classic | UK News

The ‘disruptive’ ingredients added to ice cream – and how you can save teaspoons of sugar by switching to the old favourite

It can be difficult to balance the demands of a good diet without spending a lot.

In this series, we try to find the healthiest options in the supermarket at the best value – and we enlist the help of Sunna Van Kampenfounder of Tonic Health, which went viral on social media for evaluating foods in search of healthier choices. We also speak to nutritionists every week.

It’s important to point out right now that in this series we don’t try to find the healthiest option, but we help you get the best nutritional value for the lowest possible price.

With the weather finally getting warmer, this week we’re looking at ice cream.

“With so many options available, what do you think of a 63% reduction in sugar consumption and also some savings for your wallet?” says Suna.

What’s in our ice cream?

“Technically speaking, ice cream is just frozen milk and cream with a little sweetness,” says Sunna.

But as time went on, we started using less and less cream and more and more sugar.

“To give you an example, Mars Bar ice cream is only 31 percent milk and cream, while Mackie’s traditional ice cream is 81 percent milk and cream,” says Sunna.

“When you remove the cream, it’s clear that you lose a lot of the creaminess and smooth texture, so manufacturers have turned to gums (such as guar gum, locust bean gum, tara gum) to add creaminess while reducing costs,” he adds.

“The problem is that some of these gummies have been shown to be harmful to the gut and difficult to digest.”

How much sugar can we eat?

The NHS recommends that adults consume 30g of sugar per day, decreasing to 24g for children aged seven to 10 and 19g per day for children aged four to six.

“Cutting out sugar is not only good news for our waistlines, but also for our overall health, contributing to a balanced diet without the same spikes in blood sugar levels,” says Sunna.

These spikes can cause sudden energy crashes, hunger pangs, and potentially lead to type two diabetes.

How much sugar is in ice cream?

Let’s look at some popular examples to compare sugar content and the impact on your pocket…

• Cadbury Flake 99: £4.25 for 4x125ml and 22.9g of sugar per ice cream (5.5 tsp)
• Magnum: £3.25 for 3x100ml – 20g sugar per ice cream (five teaspoons)
• Exotic Solero: £2.75 for 3x90ml – 12g sugar per ice cream (three teaspoons)
• Mars Ice Cream Bars: £2.75 for 4 x 49.5ml – 12g sugar per ice cream (three teaspoons)
• Classic Cornetto: £3.50 for 6x90ml – 10g sugar per ice cream (2.5 teaspoons)
• Milk chocolate ice creams: £1.60 for 6x70ml – 7.3g sugar per ice cream (less than two teaspoons)

“Assuming you eat one ice cream a day, hopefully 30 days of sunshine this summer, and you will save over 105 teaspoons of sugar in your diet this summer if you choose a Choc Ice instead of a Cadbury Flake 99,” Sunna it says.

It’s a decent saving for your health – but what about your wallet?

“Choc Ice is firmly in the win-win category as it’s 65% cheaper than a standard Magnum,” he adds.

That’s a considerable saving of £24.30 on over 30 ice creams.

The nutritionist’s view – from Nichola Ludlam-Raine, nutritionist at nicsnutrition.com…

“Store-bought ice cream is not a product I recommend consuming on a daily basis and, fortunately for the UK population, this is not something that is too difficult to maintain given the distinct lack of sunny, warm weather.

“I recently had a Mars ice cream and although I really enjoyed it, I needed two to feel full as they were so small – which doubled my sugar intake (to 24g).

“The good news, however, is that not all the sugar listed on the label is free or added (and less than 30g of this per day is acceptable in the context of a healthy, balanced diet), as some of the sugar will be naturally present in the milk.

“It’s always preferable to choose ice creams where the first ingredient is milk – or plant/fruit-based alternatives if you have a milk intolerance or allergy.

“The evidence on thickeners and emulsifiers in gut health is still at an early stage, and most studies are small and have been done in rodents, with relatively large amounts of the additives being used.

“Some emulsifiers can also confer benefits due to their prebiotic effects – but for gut health, the key is to add more fiber, natural colors and botanicals.”

Read more from this series…

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