Taste Test Tuesday: Weight Watchers Giant Mint Fudge Ice Cream Sundae Cone

These are one of the better low fat ice cream treats in the frozen dessert aisle for sure. The chocolate cone is definitely unique and so is the mint ice cream that fills it. But Weight Watchers had me with the "2 Points Per Cone" written on the box. Each cone is very tasty and satisfying with one serving being a perfectly sized portion.

The low fat mint ice cream is made with milk fat and nonfat milk, sugar, polydextrose, maltodextrin, cellulose gel, and a few other ingredients, while the chocolate cone is made with mostly bleached white flour, sugar, cocoa processed with alkali, natural and artificial flavors, oat fiber, and canola oil. This tells us that 4 grams of fiber per cone is coming from a couple different directions and that sugar is the second or third ingredient for the ice cream and the cone. A quick glance at the grams of sugar per cone plus a bit of math and now 43% of the calories for this yummy dessert comes from sugar. Here are the rest of the nutritional numbers.

Each cone contains:

140 calories
3 g protein
27 g carbohydrate
15 g sugar
4 g fat
1 g saturated fat (0 g trans)
Less than 5 mg cholesterol
4 g fiber
70 mg sodium

I would buy these again, perhaps occasionally, because they are enjoyable to eat and one serving doesn't get me too far up in calories. Although the % of calories from sugar is a bit higher than I would like, the grams of fiber is surprisingly high as well.

Related Topics:

• Study: Ice Cream = Happy
• Healthy Cooking with Elaine Magee, RD
• Healthy Cooking Newsletter - recipes, kitchen and shopping advice in your inbox

Taste Test Tuesday: Skinny Cow French Vanilla Truffle Bars

They look like big fudgesicles but without the fudge, although they have a chocolate drizzle on the outside. These are the new low-fat ice cream bars by Skinny Cow and they are probably going to go over really big with the vanilla-loving crowd.

The first ingredient is skim milk, followed by two types of sweetener - sugar and corn syrup. Each 100-calorie bar contains 12 grams of sugar (48% Calories from sugar), and 1.5 grams of saturated fat mainly from the coconut oil and palm oil used to make the chocolate drizzle (13.5% calories from saturated fat). That's the bad nutritional news. The good news is, each bar only contains 2.5 grams of total fat along and contributes 3 grams of fiber and 0 grams of trans fat and sugar alcohols. People who are sensitive to the intestinal side effects of sugar alcohols (gas & cramping) will appreciate this.

If you are in the mood for something chocolaty and cold, this probably won't do the trick. But if you love the taste of vanilla (and tend to order vanilla lattes or vanilla shakes), this could be an ideal 100 calorie treat or snack for you.

Related Topics:

• Study: Ice Cream = Happy
• Healthy Cooking with Elaine Magee, RD
• Healthy Cooking Newsletter - recipes, kitchen and shopping advice in your inbox