Burger King Soft Serve: is it real ice cream or not?

Casey45
Casey45 Posts: 160 Member
in Food and Nutrition
So, my husband and I saw a tv ad the other day for the BK "frozen treat/soft serve cone". I pointed out that they never said or wrote "ice cream" so I doubted it was ice cream. He disagreed, saying they are simply focussing on the soft serve aspect of ice cream for marketing purposes - that they don't need to say it's ice cream, it self evident that it is. I said that it probably doesn't meet the FDA definition of ice cream so they can't use the term in the ad. It's analogous to Cheese Wiz. The label says "processed cheese food," it contains cheese, but has so many other ingredients, the manufacturer (manufacturing cheese?) can't call it cheese.

Just did a quick search and didn't find anything definitive so I thought it'd be fun to see what the forum intelligentia had to say. Meanwhile I'll keep looking.

Replies

  • fjrandol
    fjrandol Posts: 437 Member
    not specific to burger king, but here's a (partial) ingredients list for soft serve:

    http://www.forbes.com/sites/nadiaarumugam/2011/08/19/the-low-down-on-soft-serve-on-national-soft-ice-cream-day/2/

    mmm, tasty...
  • IronSmasher
    IronSmasher Posts: 3,908 Member
    Has he ever seen ice cream that can be piped through a machine and into a cup like that? Has he ever tried to even scoop some before?
  • ipag
    ipag Posts: 137
    In the USA in order to be labeled ice cream has to meet the requirements found here

    http://www.ams.usda.gov/AMSv1.0/getfile?dDocName=STELDEV3004477

    If standards are not met, it can not be labeled ice cream.

    You are right it isn't ice cream. Same goes for the frosty's at Wendy's and the ices at chik-fil-a.
  • Casey45
    Casey45 Posts: 160 Member
    The more I learn about mass market "foods". The easier it is to just say no.
  • wolfchild59
    wolfchild59 Posts: 2,608 Member
    Has he ever seen ice cream that can be piped through a machine and into a cup like that? Has he ever tried to even scoop some before?

    While BK soft serve is definitely not ice cream, and I won't argue that point at all. All ice cream begins in a soft serve consistency after the initial base has frozen. That is then is frozen at higher temps to become the more solid form that we are used to in stores. But soft serve ice cream can easily be made with a natural ingredients and then just held at a higher temp and dispensed out of a soft serve machine.

    You can also take regular ice cream and mix it until it warms up a bit but still holds it form and dispense it through pastry bags if desired for decorative desserts.

    And there's a place called Smitten in San Francisco that does ice cream frozen to order using liquid nitrogen. It's an all natural base, with each flavor have a maximum of maybe five or size ingredients, and it's only slightly firmer than your typical soft serve ice cream since it hasn't gone through any additional freezing. (It's also the creamiest ice cream I've ever had and the chocolate they make with the locally made, literally across town, Tcho chocolate is the best ice cream I've ever had in my life, I don't even normally like chocolate ice cream)

    So just because an ice cream is soft, doesn't mean it's not ice cream. :)
  • Casey45
    Casey45 Posts: 160 Member
    For kicks, pictures of fast foods (burgers and tacos) ads compared to what you actually get at the "restaurant" aka factory outlet.

    http://www.alphaila.com/articles/failure/fast-food-false-advertising-vs-reality/
  • wolfchild59
    wolfchild59 Posts: 2,608 Member
    And for the OP, Burger Kings lists all of it's ingredients for all of it's items in it's nutritional PDF on their website. It's most definitely not ice cream. Nor is their "whipped topping" able to be called whipped cream.
  • beckajw
    beckajw Posts: 1,728 Member
    Has he ever seen ice cream that can be piped through a machine and into a cup like that? Has he ever tried to even scoop some before?

    There is real ice cream that is soft serve.

    Burger King's soft serve is not real ice cream.
  • Sidesteal
    Sidesteal Posts: 5,510 Member
    Has he ever seen ice cream that can be piped through a machine and into a cup like that? Has he ever tried to even scoop some before?

    There is real ice cream that is soft serve.

    Burger King's soft serve is not real ice cream.

    But if it's real delicious, I'm still going to have some in moderation :)
  • Going4Lean
    Going4Lean Posts: 1,078 Member
    Mcd's has some soft serve ice cream too and it's delicious.
  • Val_from_OH
    Val_from_OH Posts: 447 Member
    For kicks, pictures of fast foods (burgers and tacos) ads compared to what you actually get at the "restaurant" aka factory outlet.

    http://www.alphaila.com/articles/failure/fast-food-false-advertising-vs-reality/

    That was funny. He should have done some Subway photoshoots too!
  • Jorra
    Jorra Posts: 3,338 Member
    Whatever it is, it's the same thing in the soft serve, shakes, and iced coffee.

    and it's delicious.
  • Casey45
    Casey45 Posts: 160 Member

    So just because an ice cream is soft, doesn't mean it's not ice cream. :)

    So true. But just cause it looks like ice cream doesn't mean it is truely ice cream - as the other posters have answered so far. Now that I'm better informed and more aware of the big food industry, the more skeptical and wary I've become of their marketing.

    Nevertheless, that ice cream inSF sounds dreamy! Since my siblings all live in northern CA, I'll think about looking for it next time I'm visiting.
  • Casey45
    Casey45 Posts: 160 Member
    And for the OP, Burger Kings lists all of it's ingredients for all of it's items in it's nutritional PDF on their website. It's most definitely not ice cream. Nor is their "whipped topping" able to be called whipped cream.

    Actually that's the first place I looked, and the only ingredients I saw were milk, soy and wheat. No chemicals as discussed the other responder's Forbes link, not even sugar.
  • SoDamnHungry
    SoDamnHungry Posts: 6,998 Member
    I just want ice cream now... Or fake ice cream. Whatever.
  • samaria26
    samaria26 Posts: 9
    I think that it is real ----REAL GOOD that is :bigsmile:
  • IronSmasher
    IronSmasher Posts: 3,908 Member
    And for the OP, Burger Kings lists all of it's ingredients for all of it's items in it's nutritional PDF on their website. It's most definitely not ice cream. Nor is their "whipped topping" able to be called whipped cream.

    Actually that's the first place I looked, and the only ingredients I saw were milk, soy and wheat. No chemicals as discussed the other responder's Forbes link, not even sugar.

    It depends on your definition of 'real' ice cream. What people are allowed to sell as ice cream is going to differ from what the average person is going to think is in ice cream.
  • sexikc
    sexikc Posts: 153 Member
    I just want ice cream now... Or fake ice cream. Whatever.



    Exactly this...is it still 50 cents a cone right now?? lol
  • ahmommy
    ahmommy Posts: 316 Member
    Here is the list of ingredients off of Burger King's website:

    SOFT SERVE/SHAKE MIX: Milkfat and Nonfat Milk, Sugar, Sweet Whey, Corn Syrup, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Propylene Glycol Monoesters, Natural and Artificial Vanilla Flavor, Mono & Diglycerides, Guar Gum, Disodium Phosphate, Sodium Citrate, Cellulose Gum, Carrageenan.

    No soy or wheat (?) but definitely lots of sugar and other chemicals.
  • wolfchild59
    wolfchild59 Posts: 2,608 Member
    And for the OP, Burger Kings lists all of it's ingredients for all of it's items in it's nutritional PDF on their website. It's most definitely not ice cream. Nor is their "whipped topping" able to be called whipped cream.

    Actually that's the first place I looked, and the only ingredients I saw were milk, soy and wheat. No chemicals as discussed the other responder's Forbes link, not even sugar.

    Here's the ingredients from the Burger King PDF: http://www.bk.com/cms/en/us/cms_out/digital_assets/files/pages/MenuNutritionInformation.pdf
    Milkfat and Nonfat Milk, Sugar, Sweet Whey, Corn Syrup, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Propylene Glycol Monoesters, Natural and Artificial Vanilla Flavor, Mono & Diglycerides, Guar Gum, Disodium Phisphate, Sodium Citrate, Celluose Gum, Carrageenan

    Here's the ingredients for real vanilla ice cream:
    Milk, sugar, vanilla, salt, optional --> egg if doing a creamier custard style base
  • beckajw
    beckajw Posts: 1,728 Member
    Has he ever seen ice cream that can be piped through a machine and into a cup like that? Has he ever tried to even scoop some before?

    There is real ice cream that is soft serve.

    Burger King's soft serve is not real ice cream.

    But if it's real delicious, I'm still going to have some in moderation :)


    Me too, maybe. Maybe not, I'm more of a McD's girl--I LOVE McD's soft serve.
  • careyannal
    careyannal Posts: 161
    Has he ever seen ice cream that can be piped through a machine and into a cup like that? Has he ever tried to even scoop some before?

    There is a local custard shop by me who's ice cream (custard) comes out of one of 'those machines.' It is home made, and delicious!
  • pawoodhull
    pawoodhull Posts: 1,759 Member
    My husband worked at a dairy for years, distribution of frozen treats, not the dairy with the cows. Anyway, soft serve is NOT ice cream. It's a liquid, milky type product that will never totally freeze. More chemicals that real milk.
  • beckajw
    beckajw Posts: 1,728 Member
    My husband worked at a dairy for years, distribution of frozen treats, not the dairy with the cows. Anyway, soft serve is NOT ice cream. It's a liquid, milky type product that will never totally freeze. More chemicals that real milk.

    ^^This depends on where you are getting your soft serve. There is soft serve made up of chemicals. There is hard "ice cream" made up of chemicals. But there is also soft serve made of real ingredients.

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