How to choose healthier ice cream

On average, Americans eat 23 pounds of ice cream every year. Fortunately there are healthier ice cream choices we can make. Cynthia Sass tells us how:

• There is a new technology that you can find on labels: double churned, slow churned and cold churned. These are processes where the manufacturers reduce the amount of fat by churning the ice cream at a low temperature and then freezing it. This helps keep the flavor without all of the fat.

• Lower fat ice creams are a healthier choice. They reduce our intake of saturated fats which causes the liver to produce more cholesterol that can contribute to clogged arteries and heart disease.

• Light and reduced fat ice creams can be a better choice as they contain 33% fewer calories and 50% less fat. However, some of these can still have 200 calories and 7 grams of fat in a half a cup.

• If you are going for the least fat content, look for "low fat" on the label. This is a good choice for ice cream as each serving has to have less than 3 grams of fat.

• Consider individual portions, like the pint size, to help limit your portion of ice cream. If you buy the large containers for ice cream you will be tempted to eat more.

Each American eats about 23 pounds of ice cream per year. Now there’s a wall of different varieties with different label terms. There is a new technology that you can find on the label that has the term, double churned, slow churned or cold churned. What that means is that they’ve taken some of the fat that is normally in ice cream, which is less than the normal amount, and churn it through the ice cream slowly at a low temperature, and then freeze it, which allows it to taste like regular ice cream but is less fatty.

Ice cream normally has saturated fat, which causes us to produce more cholesterol and clog our arteries. The other thing you can look for is reduced fat ice cream or light cream. There’s a trick here, though. Light ice cream just means 50% less fat or 33% fewer calories than the original version, but that can still be quite high. Some light ice creams still have 200 calories and 7 grams of fat in a half cup, so if you see light on the label, really read the nutritional facts. But if you really want to make sure you’re going for low fat, look for “low fat” on the label. That means it can’t have more than 3 grams of total fat per serving.

You can also watch your portion size. If you buy something big you are likely to eat more, but if you buy individual portions, maybe you’ll just stop with one. If you’re at the market and you’re smart about label reading, you can have your ice cream and eat it too.