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Wednesday, August 08, 2007Fed Up With Gummed-Up Ice CreamAside from the obscure, all natural, highly localized ice cream that one might find by the pint here or there, Breyer's was the only ice cream manufacturer that offered truly natural, real ice cream. That is to say, the ingredients made perfect sense: cream, whole milk, sugar. Add vanilla beans for the vanilla, real peaches for the peach, and you've got ice cream the way it's meant to be. Smooth and creamy -- not unnaturally fluffy or easy to scoop. That is, until just recently. We bought some Breyer's ice cream while we were on vacation. It was a fabulous new flavor -- triple chocolate! It still said "all natural" on the front of the package, so I knew it wasn't included in their new-fangled, "we call it extra-creamy but it's really just an effort to imitate those other brands by adding junk to it" line. It was delicious and chocolaty, to be sure. But something wasn't right. It scooped too easily. It melted too quickly. It felt too..fluffy. I checked the label. Lo and behold, one of the ingredients listed was "natural tara gum." Tara gum?? I've never heard of it, and I don't care whether it's "natural" or not. It doesn't belong in my Breyer's ice cream. Slightly panicked, I started checking the ingredients in other classic Breyer's flavors on my next trip to the grocery store. French Vanilla. Neapolitan. And my favorite of all favorites: Cherry Vanilla. All of them now have "natural tara gum" added. I feel betrayed. Not only is the texture all wrong, but the taste is affected as well. It just isn't Breyer's anymore. They've sold out to the image of "extra fluffy creamy crap-filled ice cream" that has been dominating the market for years now. (Yes, yes, yes, Ben and Jerry's has stupid gums in it, too. I may love the occasional Phish Food, but I don't wave the banner of "all natural" over it. At least they use hormone-free dairy.) Breyer's was, in fact, the only ice cream I could buy with confidence. Now they've gone and ruined it all. I know, because they just had a buy-one-get-one-free sale on Breyer's at Publix, and I, with hopeful heart, picked up a carton of Cherry Vanilla. Alas, they've ruined it. How could they ruin my Cherry Vanilla? I guess we're going to have to resort to churning our own ice cream at home. Ice cream is such a simple pleasure, and we don't buy it every week. It was so nice to be able to buy a carton of Breyer's and know that I wasn't feeding my children gums and chemicals and artificial flavors. But an era seems to have ended, and I'm going to have to deal with it. Any classic Breyer's fans out there? Feel free to join me in a good sulk. Labels: life |
About Me
I am: Mother to five stunningly individualistic children... Writer of young adult fantasy... Passionate advocate for Women At Home... Madly in love with my husband... In need of Organic Gourmet Chocolate on a regular basis. I've got a Paypal account if you'd like to contribute to the cause....
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13of my readers are feeling chatty:
I've always been a HUGE Breyer's fan. Vanilla was my absolute favorite because it reminded me of the snow cream we always made as kids. Yum! I picked up two containers of Breyer's while family was visiting and I thought it tasted weird. I chalked it up to the fact that we had so many people to feed that it must have sat out too long. This sucks. I'm ticked... Lets protest!
I saw "ice cream" in the title and had to skip the post...
I have zero willpower when it comes to food.
Hi, Jill! It's been a while. I've been busy with work. I missed reading your blog! :( I'm sorry to hear about your favorite ice cream! :( How about gelato? I like gelato. :)
Aw, man! I knew it tasted funny the last time I bought it, but I thought it was me. Vanilla Bean was my absolute favorite. :( Whaaa!
My heart sinks whenever I see "New and Improved!" on the packaging of something I like. Usually it just means they found something cheaper to replace something good.
Oh my goodness mrsatroxi, I also cringe when I see the dreaded "New and Improved" wording on my favorite foods...blech!!!!!
I just saw an ad for Breyer's in a magazine and they're still pushing the "all natural" plug. I now get icecream from a local creamery. The milkman delivers it:o) The price is beyond outrageous, but it's worth it!!!
EW!!! (Jill, I blame you for turning me into a additive snob! LOL)
We liked Breyers Vanilla also. We only get it when it's someone's birthday, great added with cake! I haven't tried it in a while tho.
We just had a Marble Slab Creamery open up near us, I'd like to try their ice cream to see what it's like. It's got to be better than Dairy Queen!
Leese -- I started researching it, and people are complaining all over the 'Net! Breyer's claims they were trying to make the product better. Nobody believes them. The best thing we can do is to just not buy Breyer's!
Sister -- I am so jealous! :)
Nikki -- We walked into a Marble Slab once a few years ago, and walked right back out! The prices were way too outrageous for a family of 6 to have an outing. :( But it does look like good ice cream. A nice date place, actually. Though I've never looked into their ingredients. We have Maggie Moo's, too, but I've not checked their ingredients, either.
Dang, I want some ice cream now!
Oh no! We only get ice cream on birthdays, it was okay as of July! *sob*
Jamie - wow, can your town get any better? I want to live somewhere with an all-natural-ice-cream-delivering milkman!! :-)
We have no Breyers here so I can't say that I have every tried it. I am not a big ice cream eater at the best of times.
There was nothing like Breyers Butter Pecan. Definitely a favorite growing up.
3 weeks and 3 days.... I guess it's time to jump into the Boeheme love bandwagon. Please make room for me. I've got a glass of whatever dad wants and whatever mom is allowed to have as support as the countdown begins.
Awww. Ya don't mess with ice cream!
*joins you in your sulk*
I am one of those people that are irate about what was done to Breyers ice cream by the Dutch multinational, Unilever. They will probably contact this website and persuade the moderator to delete all these comments.
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