Ice Cream
Ice cream is a much-loved treat that offers delicious relief on hot summer days. It doesn’t get any better than that—or does it? This frozen dessert can come in organic and even fair trade versions, making your warm-weather indulgence a little more virtuous.
Unfortunately, Toronto organic ice cream offerings tend to exist mostly in specialty, one-off locations such as Kensington Market Organic Ice Cream (650 1/2 Queen St. W. at Palmerston Ave.), not at your local grocery store. But OGH has found a few sweet grocery products that fit the bill, and we decided to profile “regular” ice creams as well for comparison due to the dearth of selection.
In addition to keeping an eye out for fair trade and organic ingredients, you should be aware that lower-quality ice creams such as “soft serve” versions tend to have water, sugar, and starch as main ingredients instead of cream and eggs. Ice cream is a balance of fats (cream), liquids (sugar, milk), and air. (More premium ice creams tend to contain less air, but some air is essential to give ice cream its creamy, lickable texture.) Stabilizers, therefore, are crucial to keeping the fats, liquids, and air mixed together—and stabilizers are generally the oddly-named ingredients you’ll see in ice cream. For example, mono and diglycerides, propylene glycol monostearate, and polysorbate 80 are all stabilizers. Our research has shown that none of them have been flagged as ingredients of concern; however, propylene glycol monostearate has a petroleum base.
Carageenan, guar, and cellulose gums are gums included for texture and stability. They help ice cream keep its texture and keep the cream fat from separating from the other ingredients. They are extracted from plants: guar from the guar bean, carageenan from seaweed and cellulose from plants or bacteria.
Of course, many of the health and ethical concerns associated with milk/cream and eggs (see corresponding Green Grocery Guide categories at greengroceryguide.ca)) are associated with ice cream. None of the ice creams we profiled claimed to contain free-run or free-range eggs. Also, be aware that vanilla and chocolate tend to be farmed in areas that could benefit from fair trade agreements.
You’ll be pleased to know that all paper ice cream cartons can go in the green bin in the GTA, so cleanup should be relatively earth-friendly. Plastic lids, however, need to go into the recycling bin.
Organic Meadow Ice Cream
May 2011
This is the only ice cream we found containing organic and fair trade ingredients. Organic Meadow, owned by a farmers’ cooperative in Ontario, buys its fair trade cocoa and sugar from organic farmers in the Caribbean. While not available in most major chain stores, this ice cream can be found in specialty stores, some Loblaws, More >
President’s Choice Ice Cream Shop Vanilla
Aug 2010
While this ice cream does contain cream it doesn’t contain eggs—and isn’t organic or fair trade—and lists natural flavour as opposed to real vanilla as a flavouring. Although made with 100% Canadian milk, no efforts appear to have been made to mitigate the environmental or social of this product. Given that PC has already created More >
Dorgel Vanilla Cream Gelato
Aug 2010
Widely available in most chain stores, this ice cream is actually a gelato. Gelato contains less air and less fat than ice cream, and typically has richer flavours due to the lower fat content. There’s no organic or fair trade ingredients in this gelato and no efforts appear to have been made to mitigate the More >
Nestle Real Dairy Ice Cream
Aug 2010
Real” in this context means a minimal number of preservatives, but it doesn’t mean organic or fair trade. This Nestle ice cream does contain eggs and cream, marks of a premium product, as well as pure ground vanilla beans. But no efforts appear to have been made to mitigate the environmental or social of this More >
Mapleton’s Organic
Aug 2010
This ice cream is one of only two organic ice creams we found available in grocery stores. Mapleton’s is organic but not fair trade; however, their vanilla ice cream is gluten- and nut-free. Their ice cream is also chemical-, GMO-, and salt-free, and no artificial ingredients are used. Mapleton’s is certified by Local Food Plus More >
Kawartha Dairy Ice Cream
Aug 2010
Kawartha Dairy is 73 year-old family-run operation based in Bobcaygeon, Ontario, in the heart of cottage country. A longtime mainstay of summer getaways, this ice cream is available in many specialty shops in Toronto. While it’s made with 100% Canadian fresh milk and cream, it’s neither organic nor fair trade.