Buzz
For years, Dairy Queen has been the go-to spot for indulging in Blizzards, where ice cream and candy are blended to sweet perfection. However, if you want to be precise, calling their soft serve 'ice cream' isn't entirely accurate. They prefer to label their offerings as 'soft serve' or 'treats' because, technically, it doesn't meet the criteria for ice cream. Here's the reason.
As stated on the Dairy Queen website, there's a technicality with the FDA that affects how their products are classified. 'By definition, our soft serve doesn't meet the standards to be called ice cream,' the company explains. 'To be classified as ice cream, the product must contain at least 10 percent butterfat, whereas our soft serve contains only 5 percent.'
This difference in butterfat content initially placed Dairy Queen's products under the 'ice milk' category by the FDA. However, the agency has since updated its guidelines, allowing frozen treats with less than 5 percent butterfat to be labeled as ice cream if they include terms like 'reduced-fat,' 'light,' or 'low-fat.' (Reduced-fat ice cream must contain 25 percent less total fat than standard ice cream; light ice cream requires 50 percent less total fat; and low-fat ice cream can have no more than 3 grams of total fat per serving.)
Dairy Queen’s soft serve qualifies as 'reduced-fat' ice cream, while their shakes meet the criteria for 'low-fat' ice cream. Despite this, DQ continues to use the 'soft serve' label. A likely explanation: When you're at Dairy Queen, ordering something labeled 'low-fat' doesn't quite capture the indulgent experience.
