It’s Low-Calorie and Packed With Protein. Is It Healthy?

Ice cream is one of life’s simplest and most enduring culinary pleasures.

The first published recipe, which dates back to the 17th century, combined milk, water, sugar, and candied citron or pumpkin.

By the early 20th century, companies were regularly adding stabilizers to their ice creams to prevent them from getting freezer burn and artificial dyes to give them appealing hues.

But the core essence of ice cream—sweetened, frozen dairy—remained largely unchanged into the 21st century.

Even Halo Top, the diet ice cream that surpassed Ben & Jerry’s as the nation’s best-selling in 2017, simply subbed in skim milk and artificial sweeteners to keep the calories down.

Then came David.

The protein-bar company has turned its attention to “frozen dessert,” which is, of course, more commonly known as ice cream, though the company can’t legally call their product that.

Instead of being made with cream and milk, it comprises a “protein system,” a “structure system,” a “fat system,” and a “flavor system,” each of which is composed of ultra-processed ingredients such as whey protein isolate and “modified plant fat.” The only whole natural ingredients on the vanilla flavor’s label are water, salt, and vanilla bean.

And yet, the treat’s basic nutritional stats are impressive: A pint has just 210 calories, less than 1 gram of sugar, and 30 grams of protein.

Unlike diet ice creams of the past, it is rich and creamy.

When the product launched on David’s website in June, it sold out in 28 minutes. (The company declined to tell me how many units it sold.) David’s ice cream is perhaps the most outwardly refined of a whole category of frozen desserts that are being deliberately packed with protein.

These protein-ice-cream companies and others processing their way to a palatable nutrition label are making a bet on what Americans truly want from food.

We (and our government) might have grown more skeptical than ever of industrially produced foods, but we also expect quite a lot from every morsel we consume.

When I recently spoke with Brendan Niemira, the chief science and technology officer of the Institute of Food Technologists, he spent nearly two minutes listing qualities that Americans now desire: that food be tasty and safe, sure, but also low-calorie, high-protein, probiotic, full of omega-3 fatty acids, and so on.