The Apparent Serving Size Of Trader Joe's Ice Cream Bon Bons Has Customers In Disbelief

Trader Joe's is known for its hard-to-resist frozen treats, but the apparent serving size on one frozen dessert has customers in disbelief. A Trader Joe's box of 12 chocolate-covered Vanilla Ice Cream Bon Bons lists 1 serving per container, making shoppers do a double-take. In a recent Reddit post on r/traderjoes, one user posted a picture of a box, asking: "Am I reading this serving suggestion correctly? Do they mean one serving for a group? 12 bon bons cannot possibly be what they encourage (expect?) one person to eat in one sitting."

The response was a mixture of amusement, surprise, and delight. "Best news I've ever received!" one person commented. Another person wrote, "I had this exact conversation in store with someone a few weeks ago lol I couldn't believe it either. And the numbers on the facts seem[...]low???" At 60 calories per bon bon, you could eat 12 for under 800 calories. But does that mean you should? 

"At least they're being realistic," another person chimed in. Whatever the case, it seems this was not a packaging or printing fluke. While boxes of the ice cream treats from 2018 listed one bon bon per serving and those from 2020 listed 6 bon bons per serving, packs from three and four years back have the serving listed as 12 bon bons. It's not clear when Trader Joe's changed the serving suggestion to the entire box, but make no mistake, many customers have no problem following the recommendation. 

The serving size listed on Trader Joe's ice cream bon bons understandably is cause for conversation. And it also sparks the question of how the retailer gets away with listing a whole box as a serving when the FDA has Reference Amounts Customarily Consumed (RACCs), which typically help companies determine the serving size on nutrition labels in the U.S. But true to form, Trader Joe's has been known to practice creative freedom with its most renowned products. And generous serving sizes are nothing new for Trader Joe's items — including some of its best and worst frozen desserts. On the same aforementioned Reddit post, one person commented, "I bought some of the 'Hold The Dairy' mini cones and was shocked to see that a serving was SIX cones!" And they're absolutely right — six mini ice cream cones are considered a serving for the product.

While the ice cream bon bons that started the conversation don't currently appear to be available on Trader Joe's website, other similar products like seasonal frozen Vegan Mint and Chip Bon Bons also list "serves 1" on the nutrition facts for a box of eight bon bons. Like the traditional ice cream bon bons, though, both a per bon bon and per container nutritional listing are available — perhaps postulating that the consumer has free will to eat one bon bon, or as many as their heart desires.