A pair of swirly mixed pink and white soft serve ice cream cones – Freer/Shutterstock
If you head to the freezer aisle today, you’ll probably find lots of ice cream. You’ll also find sorbet, gelato, sherbet, and frozen yogurt. If you are a Boomer, or at least remember shopping with one back in the day, you probably recall when ice milk would have been dominating the freezers. It technically doesn’t exist today, at least not under the label ice milk, and there are some interesting reasons why.
Ice milk was a frozen, dairy-based dessert like ice cream. The main difference is that if a product is called ice cream the FDA requires it to have at least 10% milk fat, and that includes all of your favorite ice cream brands. Ice milk had anywhere between 2% and 7% milk fat; it also used milk powder and other stabilizers instead of eggs. Not only did ice milk have less fat, it was also cheaper than ice cream. Dairy Queen’s soft serve ice cream, based on standards from the 1980s through the early 1990s, qualified as ice milk.
In 1994, ice milk fell victim to new labeling regulations. The Nutrition Labeling and Education Act allowed ice milk to be sold as ice cream if it was labeled “reduced fat.” If it contained 25% less fat than the standard version, it met requirements. If it was less than half the fat, it could be called light. So ice milk didn’t technically disappear and isn’t one of those foods that Boomers love that became less popular.
Read more: 10 Classic Foods Boomers Loved That Are Way Less Popular Now
Putting ice milk on ice
A container of Ediy’s slow Cher and double French brownie light ice cream – melissamn/Shutterstock
Much of the appeal of ice milk was based on its lower price and fat content. While standard ice cream is decadent, ice milk was a lighter and more refreshing alternative in some people’s eyes. Since you could get it at a lower price, it became a popular option. Back in the 1970s, ice milk would have fit into some diet plans because of its lower fat content. However, it suffered a stigma a lot of low fat foods face: poor image. The name “ice milk” made people think of milk with ice in it. It was also criticized for having a grainy texture and too much sugar.
With the change in labeling regulations, ice milk got a facelift on the label. Consumers read “ice cream,” regardless of fat content. Even though what was in the container was no different, the perception was of a more delicious version. Cream is perceived as something that is more decadent, more enticing.
If you want to try ice milk today, all you need to do is compare some of the reduced fat versions of ice cream to the regular versions. Edy’s Slow Churned Vanilla Bean Light Ice Cream contains 5% fat, qualifying it for the “light” label, which is 50% less fat than standard ice cream. Under old labels, this would be ice milk. Of course, if you want the best frozen treat, you could try one of these ice cream recipes at home.
Want more food knowledge? Sign up to our free newsletter where we’re helping thousands of foodies, like you, become culinary masters, one email at a time. You can also add us as a preferred search source on Google.
Read the original article on Tasting Table.
