Arctic Zero: Observation About Serving Size

hgycta
hgycta Posts: 3,013 Member
edited November 24 in Food and Nutrition
I'm sure everyone here who has heard of the company Arctic Zero is familiar with or has a slight understanding of their lawsuit where people claimed the caloric content of their pints was a lot higher than 150 as advertised.
As someone who has always loved indulging on a pint of these, I have been careful about how I log these as a result of these claims, which has lead me to an observation which may explain this whole issue, but I'm not sure and would love feedback!
I'm currently eating their new Buttery Pecan Chunky pint, and a serving size is listed as 1/2 cup (70g) for 75 calories. It says servings per container is 4 (not about or around 4, just simply 4), and the front says it is 300 calories per pint.
Taken at face value, they could scientifically prove this is in fact 75 calories. Yet someone could scientifically prove that the pint is more than 300 calories at the same time, based off something I've noticed.
If there are 4 servings in a pint (I like to weigh my food), that would be 70 grams x 4 = 280 grams for the entire pint.
However, on the front of the pint, it says it is 473mL (which has always confused me but when I weigh grams and mL they always seem to be identical, and when I measured this out it again turned out closer to this number, much higher than the advertised 280 grams).
So would Arctic Zero in fact be higher in calories simply because there are more than four servings in each of their pints? That's how I'm taking this, but I'm not sure. What are your thoughts???

Replies

  • rileysowner
    rileysowner Posts: 8,336 Member
    The relation between grams (a measurement of mass) and milliliters (a measurement of volume) is no equivalent for many many products. If a product is denser, it will have more mass per unit of volume. If it is less dense, it will have less mass per unit of volume. In other words, measuring something that only gives a volume measure with a devise mean to measure mass is a great way to get an incorrect measurement. Thus, 473mL is not necessarily going to really tell you what the measurement in grams is. If their serving size is 1/2 cup (70g) rather than 70ml, then it seems they should measure the whole container by mass rather than volume.

    I am not aware of the case against them, then again, as far as I know Arctic Zero is not available in Canada where I am from. Likely it is because of this mixing of mass and volume measures that there are issues.
  • Unknown
    edited September 2015
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  • WinoGelato
    WinoGelato Posts: 13,454 Member
    The relation between grams (a measurement of mass) and milliliters (a measurement of volume) is no equivalent for many many products. If a product is denser, it will have more mass per unit of volume. If it is less dense, it will have less mass per unit of volume. In other words, measuring something that only gives a volume measure with a devise mean to measure mass is a great way to get an incorrect measurement. Thus, 473mL is not necessarily going to really tell you what the measurement in grams is. If their serving size is 1/2 cup (70g) rather than 70ml, then it seems they should measure the whole container by mass rather than volume.
    .

    ^^this, plus, Arctic Zero tastes like pure sadness...

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  • PaulaWallaDingDong
    PaulaWallaDingDong Posts: 4,647 Member
    The takeaway from this should be that you should buy real ice cream and weigh out correct servings. A whole pint of poo is still a pint of poo. A bitty serving of Ben & Jerry's or Talenti is a tiny bit of bliss.
  • seska422
    seska422 Posts: 3,217 Member
    edited September 2015
    hgycta wrote: »
    which has always confused me but when I weigh grams and mL they always seem to be identical
    This happens because the scale just weighs the item in grams but it has a setting that labels those grams as milliliters. The values shown for grams and milliliters will always be the same on a scale even if they aren't really the same for what you are weighing. Somewhere in the instructions for the scale it should explain that you can only get milliliters using the scale if the liquid you are weighing has the density of water.

    Anything that is specified in milliliters in the nutritional information really needs to be measured using measuring cups/spoons for accuracy. Some things are close enough for me to weigh (such as the small amount of dressing I use on a salad) but I keep in mind that it's not as accurate.
  • andrikosDE
    andrikosDE Posts: 383 Member
    If regret had a flavour, it'd be Arctic Zero.

    What a great slogan!
    You should market it to them :smiley:
  • juggernaut1974
    juggernaut1974 Posts: 6,212 Member
    WinoGelato wrote: »
    The relation between grams (a measurement of mass) and milliliters (a measurement of volume) is no equivalent for many many products. If a product is denser, it will have more mass per unit of volume. If it is less dense, it will have less mass per unit of volume. In other words, measuring something that only gives a volume measure with a devise mean to measure mass is a great way to get an incorrect measurement. Thus, 473mL is not necessarily going to really tell you what the measurement in grams is. If their serving size is 1/2 cup (70g) rather than 70ml, then it seems they should measure the whole container by mass rather than volume.
    .

    ^^this, plus, Arctic Zero tastes like pure sadness...

    X2
  • callsitlikeiseeit
    callsitlikeiseeit Posts: 8,626 Member
    Never heard of it, but on the rare occasions i eat ice cream (im not an ice cream person) i eat the real stuff and enjoy every bite (hello ben and jerrys salted caramel core!)
  • paperpudding
    paperpudding Posts: 9,304 Member
    OP have I understood this correctly - the container contains 300 mg but it says it is 4 servings of 70 mg at 75 calories each which would only be 280mg total.

    So in actual fact if you ate 1/4 of the total you are eating 75mg not 70?

    And the calorie count would therefore be approximately 6 calories more than a 70g serving?

    Unless one is eating huge amounts of this product, this difference is going to be absolutely insignificant.


    PS; I am in Australia, have never heard of the product or the lawsuit, am just applying basic maths to your observations.
  • seska422
    seska422 Posts: 3,217 Member
    edited September 2015
    The label says that one serving is 1/2 cup and that 1/2 cup weighs 70 grams. The front of the tub says that the tub contains 1 pint (which is 4 servings because 1 pint contains 2 cups) and that the volume of the ice cream in the tub is 473 ml. From that, one serving weighs 70 grams and has a volume of 118.25 ml. You can either weigh out 70 grams or measure out 118.25 ml. 120 ml is 1/2 cup so the math all works out within a small margin for error.

    From that, the Arctic Zero is much less dense than water. That could be air whipped into it, among other things.
  • patrikc333
    patrikc333 Posts: 436 Member
    edited September 2015
    Italian so cups/pints etc is difficult for me to understand

    but

    you might assume the density of the material is not 1?

    mass (g) = Volume (ml) x density

    if density is not 1, the weight and volume won't be the same, as for the icecream
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    The only liquid that is 1g per ml is water. Everything else varies. Don't mix up volumes and weight.
  • cityruss
    cityruss Posts: 2,493 Member
    Walls big bite 'ice cream' displays the following.

    100 ml = 51 g; 450 ml/230 g = 4.5 x (2x scoop)

    Typical values
    Per 100 g = 160cal
    Per 100 ml = 85cal

    450ml of their air filled 'ice cream' weighs 230g.

    All poverty 'ice creams' are the same.

    You're confusing volume and weight.
  • auddii
    auddii Posts: 15,357 Member
    I agree with everyone else, go by weight not the volume. You can either weigh the entire pint in the container and then weigh the container after you finish (the difference between those numbers is the weight of the ice cream you ate) or scoop it all into a bowl.

    And I've heard that articzero reformulated and no longer tastes like sawdust (I saw someone posted that it actually tasted *good* but there are always those few crazies that enjoyed it before the reformulation too). I vaguely want to try one of the new flavors but I'm kind of afraid to.
  • hgycta
    hgycta Posts: 3,013 Member
    Thanks everyone, I really appreciate all of you taking some time out of your day to help me!
    auddii wrote: »
    I agree with everyone else, go by weight not the volume. You can either weigh the entire pint in the container and then weigh the container after you finish (the difference between those numbers is the weight of the ice cream you ate) or scoop it all into a bowl.

    And I've heard that articzero reformulated and no longer tastes like sawdust (I saw someone posted that it actually tasted *good* but there are always those few crazies that enjoyed it before the reformulation too). I vaguely want to try one of the new flavors but I'm kind of afraid to.

    I used to like their old flavors and quite honestly, their new "formula" tastes exactly the same for the cookies and cream, vanilla maple, etc. However, their new chunky pints with 300 calories per pint (given, I've only had the Buttery Pecan so far) are a lot better in my opinion. That being said, my mother still was not crazy about it and my dad agreed it was better, but not something he'd want to buy again or eat an entire pint of.
  • rbfdac
    rbfdac Posts: 1,057 Member
    This is the most vile, disgusting "food" that I have ever tried. I seriously thought my had gone back. Blehk.
  • SuggaD
    SuggaD Posts: 1,369 Member
    I tried it once. Meh. I'd rather have frozen yogurt, gelato, or ice cream (in that order).
  • auddii
    auddii Posts: 15,357 Member
    hgycta wrote: »
    Thanks everyone, I really appreciate all of you taking some time out of your day to help me!
    auddii wrote: »
    I agree with everyone else, go by weight not the volume. You can either weigh the entire pint in the container and then weigh the container after you finish (the difference between those numbers is the weight of the ice cream you ate) or scoop it all into a bowl.

    And I've heard that articzero reformulated and no longer tastes like sawdust (I saw someone posted that it actually tasted *good* but there are always those few crazies that enjoyed it before the reformulation too). I vaguely want to try one of the new flavors but I'm kind of afraid to.

    I used to like their old flavors and quite honestly, their new "formula" tastes exactly the same for the cookies and cream, vanilla maple, etc. However, their new chunky pints with 300 calories per pint (given, I've only had the Buttery Pecan so far) are a lot better in my opinion. That being said, my mother still was not crazy about it and my dad agreed it was better, but not something he'd want to buy again or eat an entire pint of.

    Hm, good to know. I can have 2 servings of a slow churned ice cream for around 300 calories, so I think I'll just stick to that.
  • CooCooPuff
    CooCooPuff Posts: 4,374 Member
    There's a review on The Second Scoop saying that they enjoyed the buttery pecan flavor.

    I'm still a lot more interested in trying the new B&J pecan pie flavor.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    I'm quite fond of the Talenti Southern Butter Pecan.
  • WinoGelato
    WinoGelato Posts: 13,454 Member
    lemurcat12 wrote: »
    I'm quite fond of the Talenti Southern Butter Pecan.

    Everybody talks so much about the Talenti, that I finally bought some today. I haven't tried it yet. I got the Caramel cookie crunch and the vanilla bean.

    I hope you like it but to be honest those are not their best flavors. The sea salt caramel and southern butter pecan are the ones that get the best reviews. Definitely better than Arctic Zero though!
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    WinoGelato wrote: »
    lemurcat12 wrote: »
    I'm quite fond of the Talenti Southern Butter Pecan.

    Everybody talks so much about the Talenti, that I finally bought some today. I haven't tried it yet. I got the Caramel cookie crunch and the vanilla bean.

    I hope you like it but to be honest those are not their best flavors. The sea salt caramel and southern butter pecan are the ones that get the best reviews. Definitely better than Arctic Zero though!

    I really like Sicilian Pistachio, but I'm obsessed with nut-flavored frozen desserts, I think.
  • gentlygently
    gentlygently Posts: 752 Member
    This one has me totally lost

    A) cos I am tired, and my brain does not feel like doing maths - it is Kate here in the UK

    B) a pint is something you drink - tasty, usually dark golden brown alcoholic beverage. And nobody does quarters of that...


    Back to the pub then....
  • CooCooPuff
    CooCooPuff Posts: 4,374 Member
    Caramel cookie crunch is one of those flavors that I liked a lot better the second try. There weren't a lot of mixins in my first tasting.

    Double dark chocolate is a flavor I'll throw into the ringer. I LOVED how sweet it was.
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  • kellyjellybellyjelly
    kellyjellybellyjelly Posts: 9,480 Member
    If regret had a flavour, it'd be Arctic Zero.

    I would rather eat Banana ice cream than this stuff.

    Plus it's super expensive for not even being real ice cream.
This discussion has been closed.