Buzz
While no one calls pizza a “round saucy delight” or hamburgers “ground beef patties,” you’ll often find containers in the freezer aisle marked as “frozen dairy dessert” instead of ice cream.
This linguistic nuance might seem trivial, but it’s a red flag for true ice cream enthusiasts. So, what sets these two apart?
Food labeling isn’t arbitrary. It’s governed by strict standards and regulations set by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), ensuring consumers know what they’re eating. (The FDA’s origins trace back to experiments involving volunteers consuming tiny doses of toxins, but that’s a tale for another time.) For ice cream, the FDA mandates a specific formula: products must have at least 10 percent dairy fat and weigh 4.5 pounds per gallon. This ensures no product exceeds 100 percent overrun, meaning the volume of air doesn’t surpass the quantity of solids. Essentially, the FDA ensures you’re getting real dairy fat, not just a container of whipped air.
If a product fails to meet both criteria, it can still be sold—just not as “ice cream.” Instead, it’s classified as a frozen dairy dessert. With higher air content and lower milk fat, it’s typically less expensive to manufacture.
The taste distinction is subjective, but ice cream generally boasts a richer, denser texture. Frozen dairy desserts, on the other hand, are lighter due to increased air incorporation. They may also include additional ingredients: Nestlé’s Drumstick cones, for instance, are crafted with skim milk, coconut oil, palm oil, and soybean oil, among others.
Perry’s ice cream proudly emphasizes its authentic ice cream credentials and highlights variations within the category. Some ice creams are labeled “economy,” meeting only the minimum requirements. “Regular” ice cream has less than 100 percent overrun and slightly more milk fat. “Premium” ice cream may have as little as 60 percent overrun, while “super-premium” can go as low as 50 percent, with milk fat content reaching up to 18 percent.
Some brands provide both options. Breyers, for instance, sells both ice cream and frozen dairy desserts, a detail consumers might miss unless they scrutinize the packaging.
Despite this, ice cream remains a universal term for anything creamy, frozen, and sweet. After all, no child has ever cheered for the frozen dairy dessert truck rolling down the block.
