Popular Treats That the FDA Banned From Calling Themselves Ice Cream
A lot changed in the freezer aisle once food brands realized that shoppers don’t read the fine print. Cartons still showed images of ice cream, but some of those products stopped qualifying as actual ice cream years ago. Too much air, too little milkfat, or ingredient changes pushed certain treats outside the FDA’s standards for ice cream. Here are some common ones.
Breyers Cookies & Cream
Image via Reddit/MidgetGroper
Breyers sells both real ice cream and frozen dairy desserts, which makes the freezer aisle even more confusing. Flavors like Natural Vanilla still qualify as ice cream, but Cookies & Cream and Butter Pecan carry the frozen dairy dessert label instead. The company has said texture preferences influenced the change, since smoother products can be made with different ingredient balances.
Blue Bunny Vanilla Sandwiches
Image via Reddit/Leo0912
Blue Bunny’s sandwiches look like classic ice cream sandwiches, but the packaging tells a different story. The front avoids the word “ice cream” entirely and instead calls the filling a frozen dairy dessert. The recipe includes stabilizers and oils that help the sandwiches hold their shape longer. Consumer Reports once tested melting speeds outdoors and found Blue Bunny sandwiches barely changed after 30 minutes in the heat.
Oreo Frozen Dessert Cones
When Oreo launched its frozen treats in 2022, shoppers found cones, bars, and tubs loaded with Oreo cookie pieces. But the label reveals an important detail. The cones are made with a “creme-flavored frozen dairy dessert” instead of traditional ice cream. That usually means the product contains less cream and milk fat, with some dairy ingredients replaced by other additives or dairy solids to lower production costs.
Reese’s Frozen Dessert Bars
Image via Reddit/slopapotamus
Reese’s jumped deeper into frozen treats in 2023 through a partnership with Unilever. The lineup included peanut butter cones, sandwiches, and dessert bars, but ice cream never appeared on the packaging. The bars rely heavily on nonfat milk and peanut butter swirls instead of the higher milkfat levels required under FDA guidelines.
Drumstick Vanilla Sundae Cones
Nestlé’s Drumstick cones still dominate gas station freezers and grocery aisles, but many versions technically fall under the frozen dairy dessert category. One clue is that cream isn’t front and center in the ingredient list. Dairy solids, skim milk, and coconut oil are the focus instead. Even the vanilla flavor skips actual vanilla in favor of natural flavoring.
Friendly’s
Image via Reddit/ZadarskiDrake
Friendly’s built its reputation on old-school ice cream shop nostalgia, which makes the label easy to miss. Several products sold in stores now carry frozen dairy dessert labeling, and that overrun measurement tracks how much air gets whipped into the product during production.
Edy’s And Dreyer’s
Edy’s and Dreyer’s became household names partly because their ice cream stayed softer and easier to scoop straight from the freezer. One reason is the amount of air mixed into the product during production, a process called overrun. U.S. federal rules limit overrun to 100 percent, meaning manufacturers cannot add more than twice the original volume of the ice cream base with air and still legally call it ice cream.
Good Humor Strawberry Shortcake Bars
Image via Reddit/Yopandaexpress
Good Humor’s original bars still qualify as ice cream, but fan favorites like Strawberry Shortcake and Chocolate Éclair are in another category. The company labels them as frozen dessert bars. The famous crunchy coating and lighter filling set it apart from traditional ice cream bars.