Roger M. from Norristown, Pennsylvania writes:
Dear Ernie – What’s the difference between “ice cream” and “ice milk”?
Thanks for your question, Roger. The term “ice milk” used to refer to any light or reduced fat ice cream. Today it’s no longer used, unless you’re referring to a glass of milk which contains ice cubes or a container of milk which has been allowed to freeze.
Believe it or not, up until the 1980’s if the butter fat content of the product was less than 6 percent, the product had to be called “ice milk” while its full-fat cousin retained the title of “ice cream.” Needless to say, with a name like “ice milk” it wasn’t a big seller no matter how hard our marketing team tried. During the 80’s, the ice cream industry was successful in petitioning the Federal Government to drop this nomenclature. We now use names such as reduced fat ice cream, light ice cream, low-fat ice cream, and non-fat ice cream. Lots of choices for everyone, and now a much better seller as a result of the name change.
I’m off for a bowl right now!
Ernie
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If you’ve got a technical question about the ice cream making process or some other inquiry about the nuances of America’s favorite treat, chances are Ernie has the answer. He might not be able to answer all questions, but he’ll try his best and some may be featured on the Ice Cream Journal.
I remember visiting my grandmother’s house and she used to ask me if I wanted some “ice milk.” I always thought it was just a Pennsylvania thing and that it was just another name for ice cream. Thanks for the info Ernie!
That’s interesting. The 80′s! When everyone drank regular Coke, ate real butter and made sandwiches with Wonder bread.
My how times change. It’s great that we can be so aware of heath and well-being and still enjoy some of our favorite things. Light and low-fat ice creams are so rich and delicious one doesn’t remember they’re missing something. My rationalizing allows me to eat twice as much when it’s low-fat. ( :
I can see how ‘ice milk’ would present a difficulty for a marketing team. The imagery there is rather unappetizing.
I never used to like the taste of “ice milk” but now I can’t really tell the reduced fat ice cream from the full fat ice cream. Turkey Hill does a great job of fooling us dieters with some great lower fat options! Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!!
You’re welcome Dave and thanks for the compliment Mel.
CJ – It’s funny to hear about your strategy of choosing light ice cream so you can eat twice as much. I also do that. It’s nice to hear from other people who have found a way to cheat the system!
It’s funny how some people won’t even try anything lowfat. I’ve heard remarks like lowfat-no taste. My sons would never touch my skim milk (blue milk as they called it). When I was growing up my mother would buy A&P Neopolitan or Vanilla Ice Milk. She would unflap the entire block of ice cream. She would then take a big knife (much smaller than Ernie’s) and cut it into 12 slices. Some slices were larger for her and dad and some were smaller for the younger ones. The remaining slices had better me equal portions or she would hear -”Her(His) piece is bigger than mine”. My mother created 10 Ice Cream Monsters from our weekend treat!What memories!
To be honest..if I am going to eat ice cream then I am going to eat ICE CREAM!!! I like the low fat stuff but nothing beats the blues like a bowl of Mint Chocolate Chip Ice cream with Chocolate sprinkles!!! It just tastes that much better!
Sometimes my mother would buy ice milk. I never really liked it. If I’m going to enjoy a bowl of ice cream, I want the cream! LOL Thank you, Turkey Hill, for the good quality ingredients with which you make your products!
I love your raspberry ice cream. years ago i remember waiting for bungalow bar ice cream trucks after school and getting a chocolate raspberry ice cream bar. for the summer we went upstate to visit the grandparents. and we would order “frappes” which was ice-cream with whip cream, syrup and sprinkles and a cherry on top. boy did i love that! nobody makes it like they did up state and i have not had one nor seen one in 25 years.
I remember ice milk bars, dipped in chocolate, nothing like the real cream in ice cream!
Turkey Hill Dairy “ICE CREAM” is fantastic by itself, nonetheless, it’s also good with toppings….yum, yum, yum!
it is a much better mfg. product than it was then.
Some taste better than reg. ice cream.
I remember ice milk when I was a child.
Once in a while my mom would buy ice milk instead of ice cream. Ice cream was always much better.
Turkey HIll is the best, in all forms, Ice Cream, non-fat, light etc.
So technically all the low fat, low calorie ice creams are ice milk huh? Very interesting. SO many of these sacrifice taste for low calories. I love Turkey Hill no matter how many calories are in it, it is a great way to treat yourself.
love Peanut Butter Ripple
Yo me i am addicted
Could live on coffee and that alone although i know i can’t
Seema like other people like it too have to go from store to store to find it sometimes!!!!
I remember ice milk. I actually liked it a lot and was one of the few people who actually bought it. I prefer ice cream, of course, but I did like ice milk too.
I always thought ice milk and sherbert were the same. Ernie what is sherbert then?
I’ve tried the new Duetto. You missed the boat with the cherry – it is very artificial tasting. The lemon is good and I still have to try the raspberry and mango. How about Duetto with root beer flavored ice? Just like a root beer float – YUM!
Sarah(the other one)- I want to try the new Duetto. When I have it, I will get back to you if I agree with the artificialness of the cherry.
Allison and Ruth Kaup have a point- If I eat ice cream, I eat ‘real’ ice cream.
I shouldn’t be so prejidoused(spelling help line- how do you spell prejidoused??????????)- after all, I’ve never had low fat or anything (to my knowledge).
Two more new things to add to the grocery store list!!!
Mint Chocolate Chip savvy ‘peeps’ unite!!!!!!
My Grandmother always hid a bowl of ice milk in the down stairs freezer at her house when I came over for a visit, so I could have a treat without my Mother knowing, LOL.
I just tried the new cherry Duetto and we loved it. What I would really like to see is a vanilla and orange Duetto. That reminds me of the old creamsicle flavor. So far I haven’t found a Turkey Hill flavor I don’t like.
far out // finally i’ve learned something about the dairy industry!!!
Ice milk was like a very milky shebet. Tasted good, but not the same to the palet as ice cream, nor did ice miik have the texture of ice cream. Today , low fat is great…and SUGAR FREE and no added sugar is the best for us sugar watchers. To Julienne Milek, Turkey Hill makes a creamsicle type sherbert , orange with vanilla ice cream or is it yougurt? –so so good.
Have always eaten Turkey Hill ice Cream, No other can compare.
Great ice cream.
Carm. Hodgins
I attended a “diet” summer camp and they served ice milk. While compared to the other offerings it was a treat it certainly pales in comparison to today’s non-fat and low fat options. I love the non-fat and low fat Turkey Hill ice creams and aside from the birth of my children haven’t missed my nightly cup in 6 years.
I don’t know which sounds less appetizing, “ice milk” or “non-fat ice cream.” Both of them sort of seem to suggest, “good for you, but not necessarily great tasting.”
Thank God for FROZEN YOGURT! Yay – Turkey Hill!
I am a total outlier–I actually like ice milk better than ice cream, which tastes fatty to me, like eating butter or heavy cream by itself. I’ve been looking for ice milk here in Northern Virginia for some time and couldn’t find it, although my daughter found it when she visited Omaha around 2000–we decided it must be a Midwestern thing.
I’ve tried the low fat and nonfat ice cream, and it really didn’t taste the same as ice milk (waaay too much sugar and vanilla flavoring), but since you say it is, I’ll try again.
I can remember when “Pet” brand made “Ice Milk” and it was wonderful.
I do not care for the creamy texture of the low fat, non fat or light ice creams. The industries are adding other additives to the ice cream to make it taste like ice cream. Myself and those who grewup on ice milk can tell the difference. the Ice Milk I remember as a young adult had icy crystals.
If we want ice cream than myself and others would buy “ice cream”.
Please can anyone bring back the “Real Ice Milk”?) or tell me and others where we can purchase it.
I for one loved Ice Milk better than ice cream!
If I have to eat ice cream I will add 2% milk to it to dilute it anyway ~ it’s waaaay too sweet and creamy for me. Plus the vanilla ice milk tasted much more like the old fashioned vanilla milk shakes (in the metal cup).
That’s my 2 cents worth!
I have often wondered what happened to Icemilk , now I know . I used to eat icemilk because it was not as hard to digest the creamy kind bothers my stomach . Thanks
I remember when Dairy Queen used to sell real ice cream, not that ice milk crap they sell now.
I feel sorry for the kids they have no idea what they have missed.
To all those who hated ice milk.
While ice cream had to be above 6% butterfat before the 80′s you probably loved Dairy Queen which had 3.25% in 1970. (minimum by law if I remember right). Now I believe it is advertized as fat free. That should tell you something about what it is made from. There was also a difference between vanila and chocolate in the minimum butterfat required, chocolate was 8%.
My fond memories where to go to a family own dairy off Rt 100 in Pennsylvania near Rt 30, that had its own dairy store and all kinds ofd flavors of ice cream made right there. Their ice cream was a whoppingh 16%. Talk about smoothe, no ice crystals in it. While it isn’t the 30% in todays Ben and Jerry’s it was good then.
My Dad bought ice milk probably because it was cheaper. I began making milkshakes with ice milk and skimmed milk. If you hit on the perfect combination the ice milk would freeze the milk because it was so thin. I don’t think anything in the world tasted better chocolate or vanilla!
I know I’m late to the party by several years but I really loved Ice Milk ice cream and prefer it to ice cream in general, and everyone I know thinks I’m nuts. But, they haven’t had any to compare. The very few strangers I’ve spoken with who remember it remember it fondly as well. I don’t recall any flavoring in the Ice Milk we bought and Yes, it did taste pretty much like the name. Very ice cold milk with crystals of water. It’s why you see old timers get a chaser of water with their ice cream!
In the 60s i use to buy ice milk because it was cheaper than ice cream. I loved it. I told my family about ice milk, of course like anything else I talk about from back then, they don’t beleive me.
I just read Denise comment. I have all was wondered why I have to drink water after I eat ice cream. Now I know… I do remember a few flavors, cherry or srawberry, vinil and choc. I use to buy it from Highs.
I was surprised about the ice milk, and found this website, which explained about it. I was in the grocery store, looking around for the ice milk, can checked several frocery stores, but could not find it, and did not know what happened to it?
So, ZI decided to get online, and try to do some research about it. I just love having the Internet, becuase one can ask crazy questions, and the computer will try to answer them! It is so smart, and they keep adding more updated stuff every day, They are always updating all the information on it, but they will also keep the history, and the old stuff from the past, so someone can can compare, and learn about what happened, and when?
It is just like a record keeping, that everyone can access, if they are interested, and can do reaeearch about what they need to
find out? Thanks alot, I sure miss the ice milk though, but I will have to try the low fat ice cream, or the frozen yogurts,ok?
thanks,
sylvia
When I was little all we ever ate was ice milk. Shortly after I married my husband, I purchased ice milk & he bout had a cow!!! He only liked ice cream. I later noticed that there was no ice milk to be had. I never knew what the difference between the two was, thanks for the info, now if I want to relive my child hood memories I’ll buy low fat ice crea. Funny thing is my in laws HATED ice milk but when the low fat ice cream became popular, that’s all they would eat!
I LOVED Ice Milk as a kid and have been looking for it for the last 30 years. Thank you for the information, now I can finally stop my search. Do you have any good Ice Milk recipes you can share since it’s no longer sold? Thanks.
I miss that ice milk! Our family loved it!!!
I used to love ice milk. I had it at my grandmothers house all the time when I was little. Unfortunately, low fat ice cream is nothing like the ice milk I remember; which used real ingredients, not guar gum and corn syrup and all those fillers and preservatives found in today’s products….especially the ones labeled “low fat”.
They still make ice milk, you cant buy it in the stores i dont think but certain restaurants around where I live still serve it and I love it! I hate ice cream but ill eat the heck out of ice milk lol. Im actually making a homemade batch right now
I’ve had some nonfat ice creams that were surprisingly good.
I don’t know what they did to get the texture to feel like hi-test ice cream but I am impressed
Hadleys fruit stand inCabazon uses ice milk in their shakes. They have asign up that says thriftys ice cream. I have no idea where they get the ice milk. Could be making itthere?
Regarding Sydney’s reply. You must be getting ice mild mixed up with light ice cream. All of the above Ice Milk Lovers (as myself) knows they are not the same and it can’t be found anywhere, at least not at any/all the stores we have looked in. Hey, you say you are making it at home, if tastes like ice mike and not like light ice cream, you may have yourself a zillion dollar business in the making!
I’ve never liked ice cream on hot summer days – it’s way too heavy. Ice milk, on the other hand, was much more refreshing with its built-in ice crystals! No way today’s low-fat even compares. I don’t see what was wrong with the name “ice milk” … it was what it was, and didn’t pretend to be anything else.