Over the past year, I’ve sampled hundreds of ice creams and gelatos. I’ve tasted the good, the bad and the ugly, but ones featuring frozen dairy dessert in the description consistently rank among the worst. When major manufacturers want to cut spending and increase profits, they have a number of different approaches. Increasing prices usually results in decreased sales and outraged consumers so they typically try to avoid this at all costs. This leaves lowering quality and size as the only viable options to reach their corporate sales goals. Breyer’s used to be synonymous with all-natural ingredients and dependable ice cream, but recently they’ve taken a turn for the worst by making the transition into frozen dairy dessert.
Not only has Breyer’s adopted this new method of lower-quality production, but they also downsized their product from a full half-gallon to only 48 ounces over the years. The decreased amount of ice cream in their cartons must not have met the demands of the corporate higher-ups because they slowly started integrating an entirely new recipe. What used to be labeled as all-natural ice cream is now referred to as flavored frozen dairy dessert. In accordance with the FDA, ice cream must contain at least 10% milk fat; which means Breyer’s can’t call their product ice cream anymore. Their revised recipe has nearly all the calories of the original, half the fat and less than half the taste. One look at the ingredients list shows some major differences; most notably the fact that cream is mentioned very low on the ingredients list when compared to their ice cream of the past.
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| The classic recipe used in Breyer's Neapolitan (image courtesy of Food Health Reviews) |
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| The revised, frozen dairy dessert recipe with less fat, less taste, more calories and a far longer ingredient list. |
Breyer’s even dedicated an entire portion of their site to tackling the questions associated with the change. Out of the eleven questions addressed in the FAQ section of their site, seven have to do with the switch to frozen dairy dessert.
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| The same high-quality ingredients, just in far less amounts. |
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| Sounds doubtful that you'd revamp an entire operation because some tell us that they want a smoother texture. |
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| I'm not sure what "fans" they speak of, but I haven't heard one person say they like the new recipe as much as the original. The Blasts! lineup seems only popular because Breyer's bought other big corporations to entice people with the brand recognition associated with their cookies and candy. |
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| At the expense of taste and texture. |
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| Considering Breyer's has kept their all-natural favorites, this only further disproves numbers 5 and 6. |
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| Breyer's might need to switch back to the half-gallon carton to fit the new, lengthy ingredient list. |
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| I would certainly hope not considering they now use lower-quality, artificial ingredients. |
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| Sounds like yet another excuse. |
The artificial, gummy consistency of this new product has grown so horrid that my reviews of their Blasts lineup have been for the sake of science (and to deter people from purchasing some of their products). As you can see, the grades given to the current Breyer’s flavors are consistently low with C being the highest.
From here on out, I'll be boycotting this brand (unless I can bring them some bad publicity) and hopefully educate some of the unassuming consumers as to how exactly Breyer's is cheating them out of ice cream while continuing to charge the same price.
