Whether classic chocolate ice cream, chocolate ice cream with brownie pieces or ice cream in a waffle cone: there is a huge variety of chocolaty, vegan ice cream flavors. But how are they characterized and composed? The Bavarian Consumer Center wanted to know this and examined 34 vegan ice cream flavors in a market check in June 2022. The result: The labeling of vegan ice cream flavors is often inadequate. It is sometimes difficult to tell which vegan milk substitute was used and how high the proportion of cocoa or chocolate is in the ice cream. Additives are also often used.

The market check shows: Most products were clearly marked as “vegan” on the front. In over half of the products examined there is a reference to the vegan milk substitute in the product name or clearly visible on the packaging. However, almost 25 percent do not provide any information about which fats or proteins are used instead of cow's milk. “The milk substitute for vegan products should always be clearly visible in the product name or in the list of ingredients on the packaging,” demands Jutta Saumweber. “When it comes to chocolate ice cream, you don’t necessarily expect pea protein or oat syrup as a substitute base.”

If ingredients such as chocolate or nuts are shown or described on the packaging, the percentage of the respective ingredients must usually be stated on the packaging. The proportion of all cocoa products that contribute to the chocolate taste should also be stated in percent in the list of ingredients. Not all manufacturers in the “Vegan Ice Cream” market check adhere to this requirement.

“A conscious purchasing decision is only possible if consumers can easily find the most important information on the product packaging. “It’s best to do it directly on the front,” says Jutta Saumweber, nutrition expert at the Bavarian Consumer Center.

Uniform quantities according to weight and volume

According to the prepackaging regulations, packaged ice cream is labeled according to volume, even though it is a solid mass. A reference to weight is not required. Ice cream manufacturers often add a lot of air to their products. This air impact leads to large differences between volume and weight. “It would be more consumer-friendly if the filling quantity and basic price of ice cream had to be stated by weight or at least combined by volume and weight,” says the nutrition expert. Then the air impact would no longer have any influence on the filling quantity. She demands: “The legal provision in the prepackaged ice cream regulation should be changed.”

Advertising with climate neutrality cannot be verified

Some manufacturers of vegan ice cream promise that their ice cream products are climate-neutral and some even have a negative CO2 balance. This information cannot be checked and verified even on the producers' websites. In order not to mislead consumers, manufacturers should avoid making unprovable statements about climate neutrality.

Vegan ice cream with lots of additives

15 different additives were used in the 34 ice cream products examined. Thickeners, stabilizers and emulsifiers were particularly frequently used. Locust bean gum and/or guar gum is contained in almost every ice cream. Two organic products do not contain any additives, which shows that it is possible without them. There are even seven different additives in the list of ingredients for three conventional ice cream flavors.

Nutri-Score can hardly be found on the products

And the market check revealed another point of criticism: Only very few types of ice cream have the Nutri-Score on the packaging as a purchasing aid. “Manufacturers should label products with the Nutri-Score,” says Jutta Saumweber. This gives consumers the opportunity to compare the nutritional values ​​of different types of vegan ice cream more easily.

Further links:

The full investigation report can be found at www.verbraucherzentrale-bayern.de/sites/default/files/2022-07/Marktcheckbericht%20Veganes%20Eis%20final.pdf

There is an article on the topic on the homepage at www.verbraucherzentrale-bayern.de/lebensmittel/was-steckt-in-veganem-eis-ein-marktcheck-der-verbraucherzentrale-bayern-74948

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Source: VZ Bayern

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1) This content reflects the current state of affairs at the time of publication. The reproduction of individual images, screenshots, embeds or video sequences serves to discuss the topic. 2) Individual contributions were created through the use of machine assistance and were carefully checked by the Mimikama editorial team before publication. ( Reason )