arctic zero ice cream alternative

It seems that every time I scroll through my Facebook feed, I see sponsored or suggested pages for products I might like.  It's no big deal.  If it looks interesting or like something I might like, I click.  I normally get a lot of pages for protein bars and shakes, healthy snacks, and diet foods.  The other day I saw one for Arctic Zero.  What lured me in was the claim that it was only 35 calories for a 1/2 cup. Ice cream isn't really my thing, but now-distant memories of chowing down on a pint of Ben & Jerry's every few months are vivid and magnetic. That's what made me click, I think. 

 

I checked out the website and found that it's actually billed as an ice cream alternative:  no lactose, no gluten, no fat, etc.  I definitely wondered how it would taste, but I was optimistic; there are lots of foods like this that are actually good.  I found several local grocery stores, such as Stop & Shop, carry it.  I headed to Whole Foods this past weekend to check out the produce isle in hopes that something would inspire me to try something new--it didn't--and I decided to see if they carry Artic Zero--they do!  But it was $4.99 a pint.  I figured I could probably find it for less at Stop & Shop, so I went there afterwards.  It was the same price, unfortunately. They had a few different flavors, like Cake Batter and Salted Caramel.  I got the Chocolate Peanut Butter flavor.  As I was picking up the containers to check the ingredients, I noticed they're suspiciously light in weight.  It definitely didn't feel like a pint of Ben & Jerry's. (That should have told me everything I need to know.) Despite the price, I decided to buy it.  If I had finally found a low-calorie ice cream-like product that I like, it would be worth it.

As you can see, water is the number 1 ingredient, 

which probably makes this more like a sorbet.

I went right to my sister's house from the store, which meant I had to store my cold foods in the fridge or freezer.  I decided to try the ice cream right away, and my sister tried it, too.  I cracked open the pint and was prepared to be amazed by the goodness within.  And...I was not amazed.  It scooped like ice cream, but it tasted more like the diet ice cream, AKA ice milk, I remember from childhood.  I tasted just a hint of chocolate and peanut butter.  I wasn't impressed.

Would I buy this again?  Only if I really had an ice cream craving.  And even then, I'd rather have just a couple spoonfuls of the regular full-fat ice cream; it would be much more satisfying and less expensive.  The upside to buying this is there's more room in your calorie budget to add toppings. And if someone really feels they can't live without ice cream and has certain dietary restrictions, this might be something that works for them.