What are the best and worst ice cream bars for your health? Ranking frozen treats — from Drumsticks to frozen yogurt bars
Whether they're eaten on a long weekend family roadtrip or enjoyed in the backyard after a tasty BBQ, ice cream bars are one of summer's most-loved treats. Given the portability and nostalgia, it's not surprising Canadians are obsessed with these yummy indulgences.
But how do these frozen delights stack up nutritionally — especially if you're trying to watch your sugar and fat intake? Below, we run down how some of the country's most popular frozen treats — including ice cream bars, frozen yogurt and sorbet bars — stack up.
This article is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Contact a qualified medical professional before engaging in any physical activity, or making any changes to your diet, medication or lifestyle.
Frozen yogurt bars
Frozen yogurt bars have gotten a major glow-up over the past decade. These days, grocery store shelves sport frozen yogurt treats enrobed in chocolate and featuring jammy fruit swirls. Brands like IOGO offer a little something for your sweet tooth in both dipped and non-dipped varieties. They'll set you back around 100 calories and about 14 per cent of your daily recommended sugar intake.
It's worth noting that unlike un-frozen yogurt, most of these treats don't add much nutritionally to your diet. For example, other than being scant on sugar and fat, the nutritional breakdown of Chapman's frozen yogurt bars clocks only 2 per cent of your daily recommended calcium intake.
If only the real deal will do? For roughly the same amount of fat and calories, you could chow down on a mini-sized ice cream bar.
The takeaway: Frozen yogurt bars are great to scratch the ice cream itch without costing you too much of your daily caloric intake. But they don't have much of an edge in terms of added nutrition.
Frozen fruit and ice bars
Chapman's also sells a frozen sorbet stick dipped in chocolate that looks luscious and stacks up similarly to yogurt bars nutritionally.
Del Monte, meanwhile, makes bars that are mainly frozen fruit puree bars (with a few additives, of course). Each of these bars — which are smaller in size than other brands — are 50 calories a piece, making them a lower (if not the lowest) calorie treat. They're fat-free and even provide a small amount of vitamin — around 5 per cent of your recommended daily value of vitamin C, for example.
You might also be surprised to find out one bar has only 10 grams of sugar. Compliments brand also offers fruit puree bars that are similar nutrition-wise: 80 calories and sugar ranges in the teens — but almost double the size of their Del Monte competitors.
Chapman's Lil Lolly bars are possibly the best-scoring treat: For a mere 40 calories and no fat, you can go for a Popsicle vibe that only has 8 grams of sugar. Considering these bars are essentially frozen flavoured water, this nutritional profile makes sense.
It's up to you if the icier texture of this genre of treat outweighs the numbers: Sometimes that texture is more refreshing, but sometimes you might prefer something richer.
The takeaway: Frozen fruit bars are often the healthiest option you'll find at the grocery store — Del Monte's frozen fruit puree bars are only 50 calories and even have a small amount of vitamin C.
Dipped ice cream bars
Haagen-Daaz. Magnum. Chapman's. This category belongs to the heavy-hitters: Decadent ice cream covered in chocolate, nuts or candy. Naturally, no diet frontrunners are here, but that doesn't mean you need to swear off your favourites.
Haagen-Daaz, the epitome of grocery chain luxury, offers its classic takes — like vanilla in a chocolate-almond coating or vanilla in dark chocolate — in mini form, which carry an almost-identical nutritional breakdown to the average fro-yo bar. Full-size bars — which are 88ml instead of a mini's 55ml — are a different story. They can be around 300 calories and a quarter of your daily recommended sugar intake.
Then there's the maximalist Haagen-Daz EXTRAAS bars: Flavours like key lime pie and salted caramel crunch are slightly smaller than the brand's original line, but carry similar nutritional info, with enough carbs and sugar content to make those calorie-conscious people take note.
Magnum, another high-end treat, carries about half your daily allotment of saturated fat per bar, as well as nearly 20 grams of sugar. The brand's mini bars also have more calories and fat than other bite-sized bars from most competing brands.
Chapman's ice cream bars fare surprisingly similar to their frozen yogurt counterparts; one bar has around 150 calories and 10 grams of sugar. They fall closely in line with Nestle's Parlour dipped bars, which have a mere seven grams of fat, giving more of a middle-road indulgence.
The takeaway: Much akin to the above fro-yo bars, dipped ice cream bars don't offer a ton in terms of adding nutrients to your diet, but unlike those dieter's dreams, these treats generally are more of a spend in terms of calories, fat and sugar.
Frozen ice cream cones
Nestle's Drumsticks — possibly the most iconic in the frozen cone genre — feature more than 15 grams of fat and 20 per cent of your daily sugar allotment. Chapman's Super Cones fair marginally better, but if you're looking for a waffle cone with something to sink your teeth into on top, you'll be looking at a fat content in the teens and sugar in the low 20s.
The takeaway: The fat, sugar and calorie content of these tasty treats makes them a great occasional indulgence. Like their dipped ice cream counterparts, these treats offer little-to-nothing in terms of added nutrients.
The bottom line
So, what to do when your sweet tooth conspires with sultry summer heat to make reaching for ice cream the only option? If you're looking to watch your sugar and fat intake, we suggest going with a frozen yogurt bar or frozen fruit stick — or sticking with a mini size of your favourite ice cream bar.
That said, there's no harm in enjoying the occasional full-sized ice cream bar or Drumstick if you indulge in them as part of a balanced diet.
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