Can ice cream be healthy? It depends on what you consider to be ‘healthy’

All that milk, cream and sugar makes ice cream a delicious treat, but it’s so good that you can easily end up eating more than just one serving. But what about these low-calorie desserts with as few as 150 calories per pint?

Read more: Do you have stolen ice cream in your freezer?

Consumer Reports puts low-calorie desserts to the test!

Our friends at Consumer Reports reviewed the Vanilla Maple and Purely Chocolate flavors from Arctic Zero and Vanilla Bean and Chocolate from Halo Top to rate their nutrition and taste. 

Arctic Zero – Vanilla Maple

According to Arctic Zero’s website, a half-cup serving of Vanilla Maple has 35 calories, 0 grams of fat and 5 grams of sugar. It’s marketed as a ‘guiltless pleasure’ when your sweet tooth strikes. 

Ingredients

• Purified water
• Whey protein concentrate (milk)
• Organic cane sugar
• Chicory root
• Sugarcane fiber
• Guar gum
• Xanthan gum
• Natural flavors
• Organic vanilla
• Sea salt
• Monk fruit concentrate

Price: Consumer Reports found it for $4.99 a pint.

Halo Top – Vanilla Bean

A half-cup serving of the Vanilla Bean offering from Halo Top has 60 calories, 2 grams of fat and 4 grams of sugar, according to its website. It’s also high in protein, with 6 grams per serving.

Ingredients

• Milk and cream
• Eggs
• Erythritol
• Prebiotic fiber
• Milk protein concentrate
• Organic cane sugar
• Vegetable glycerin
• Organic vanilla extract
• Organic vanilla beans
• Sea salt
• Organic carob gum
• Organic guar gum
• Organic stevia

Price: Consumer Reports said it sells for $5.99 a pint.

To give you a comparison, a half-cup of Breyers Original has 130 calories, 7 grams of fat and 14 grams of sugar. 

And the reviews are in…

But how do the Arctic Zero and Halo Top desserts taste? Consumer Reports wasn’t impressed.

Arctic Zero, which doesn’t contain enough milk solids to technically qualify as ice cream, didn’t taste much like ice cream, according to those who sampled it. Halo Top fared a little better, but testers described the texture as chalky.

Bottom line: If you eat ice cream as an occasional treat, Consumer Reports says you might want to stick with the real thing!

Read more: The best ice cream is also the cheapest