Halo Top is arguably the most popular “healthy” ice cream brand. It’s lower in calories, higher in protein, and lower in added sugar than most supermarket ice cream brands.
But is Halo Top actually healthier than regular ice cream, or is it just marketed well? Does Halo Top contain any unhealthy ingredients? What’s the healthiest Halo Top flavor? And how does Halo Top’s Keto Series compare?
In this article we’ll answer all of these questions and more, as we analyze the ingredients in Halo Top to give our take on whether or not the brand is really healthier than regular ice cream.
We’ll also give our recommendation for Halo Top’s healthiest flavor, and share our thoughts on whether the brand’s Keto Series is a better option than their regular ice cream.
Key takeaways:
- We do not consider Halo Top to be healthier than regular ice cream
- Contains a sweetener associated with increased risk of stroke
- We do not currently recommend Halo Top
Halo Top vs. Regular Ice Cream
The ingredients in Halo Top Mint Chip are shown below:
For an ice cream brand, these are relatively unprocessed and healthy ingredients.
Peppermint oil is used as a natural flavoring agent, and was shown in a 2018 medical review to have favorable effects on gut health.
Cocoa butter is clinically shown to be a potent antioxidant that can both enhance cognition and improve mood.
Stevia leaf extract is a plant-based sweetener which was shown in a 2020 medical review to reduce blood sugar levels in individuals with high blood sugar, and to have anti-inflammatory effects.
There are two ingredients in this ice cream that we consider to be unhealthy.
Erythritol was shown to increase blood clotting and to be associated with increaed risk of stroke in a medical review published in the Nature Medicine journal.
Natural flavors is a broad descriptor that may pose toxicity concerns depending on the flavoring agents used, as we discussed in our Pink Sauce reviews article.
The ingredients for Turkey Hill Choco Mint Chip ice cream (a more traditional brand) are shown below:
Corn syrup is a cheap, high-glycemic sweetener shown in a medical review published in the Journal of the American College of Nutrition to be associated with increased risk of obesity.
Peppermint oil flavor is used instead of natural peppermint oil, and there’s no description of what chemical compounds are used to make this flavor.
Yellow 5 and Blue 1 are artificial food dyes, and as we detailed in our article on is Red Bull bad for you, all artificial food coloring compounds are clinically shown to have toxicity risk.
Halo Top also differs significantly from regular ice cream in regard to macronutrients.
One pint of Halo Top contains 330 calories, 18 grams (g) of dietary fiber and 16 g of added sugar.
One pint of Turkey Hill contains 600 calories, less than 1 g of dietary fiber and 39 g of added sugar.
Halo Top is much higher in fiber which can have positive effects on gut health and weight, and it’s significantly lower in calories and added sugar.
Overall, we consider Halo Top to be less healthy than traditional ice cream, due to the inclusion of erythritol.
While traditional ice cream has more unhealthy ingredients, we consider the risk of regular erythritol consumption to be more acute.
What’s the Healthiest Halo Top Flavor?
The ingredients in Halo Top Strawberry flavor are shown below:
Strawberries are unsurprisingly one of the main ingredients, and a medical review published in the Food & Function journal found that this fruit helps with disease prevention, contains potent antioxidants and can even protect and repair DNA damage.
Because strawberries contain natural sugars, this flavor of Halo Top only contains 11 g of added sugar per pint, which is 39% less than in the Mint Chip flavor we reviewed in the previous section.
Citric acid is included in this flavor, and may be inflammatory to a small subset of the population, as we documented in our review of Juice Plus.
Is the Halo Top Keto Series Better?
Halo Top has an ice cream line for people on a ketogenic (keto) diet which typically requires under 50 g of carbs per day, and sometimes under 20 g.
The ingredients in Halo Top Keto Mint Chocolate pint are shown below:
This ice cream can be incorporated into a keto diet, because it only contains 10 g of carbs per pint.
Halo Top Keto pints are healthier than Halo Top regular pints in our opinion, even for those not on a keto diet, because they are significantly lower in added sugar (1 g vs. 16 g).
The majority of the other ingredients are exactly the same.
