Which Brand Makes The Healthier Classic Chocolate Ice Cream, Häagen-Dazs Or Blue Bell?

A big bowl of chocolate ice cream can be the ultimate comfort food. Back when you were a kid, there was no hurt or disappointment that this simple treat couldn't remedy, and now that you're grown? Well, chocolate ice cream certainly can't fix everything, but it still goes a long way toward taking the edge off of life's more mundane complications.

But being an adult also means sometimes making healthier choices. So before you grab your favorite ice cream scoop and dig into another pint, let's consider the differences in the ingredients lists between two of the most popular brands in your local freezer case: Häagen-Dazs and Blue Bell. Both have the same basic ingredients that go into all good chocolate ice creams. There's milk and cream, sugar and cocoa. In a standard ⅔ cup serving, the Häagen-Dazs Chocolate has 310 calories to the 240 calories in Blue Bell Milk Chocolate. Both have comparable amounts of saturated fat, vitamins and minerals, and carbs and total sugars. Blue Bell's chocolate has 135mg of sodium to Häagen-Dazs's 55mg, which is a significant difference, but the thing that really sets them apart is what else can be found in their list of ingredients. That's where the classic Häagen-Dazs Chocolate emerges as the clear winner.

Häagen-Dazs has always prided itself on sourcing good ingredients for their ice creams, and their basic chocolate, despite being one of their longest-running flavors (it was one of the company's first, dating back its founding), is no exception. The ingredient list contains just 5 things: cream, skim milk, cane sugar, cocoa, and egg yolks. There are no gums, no thickeners, no chemical additives or artificial colors. It's just the bare minimum elements required for making chocolate ice cream — and that's admirable. What's more, the use of cane sugar (as opposed to high-fructose corn syrup, or regular, highly refined sugars) gives a deeper and more rounded sweetness while also being more of a pure product.

Blue Bell, on the other hand, while not containing anything wildly unhealthy or in any way questionable, does have an ingredient list that contains a few extras. There's milk, skim milk, cream, sugar and cocoa to start, but you'll notice that the sugar isn't listed as cane sugar, as it is with Häagen-Dazs. Further down, the Blue Bell Milk Chocolate includes salt, cellulose gum (which is basically made from wood pulp), guar gum, carrageenan, and carob bean gum. Those last four are all thickeners and stabilizers, meant to improve the texture of the ice cream, and are there largely to make up for the fact that Blue Bell doesn't use egg yolks as a thickener or emulsifier. Which is great if you're trying to avoid eggs in your diet, but less good if what you're really after is the healthiest possible chocolate ice cream to help you get through the day.