The next time you take your kids for ice cream, or contemplate which offering to pick from the grocery store freezer, consider not only the joy on their face. Think, too, about what exactly they are eating.
It may taste yummy but, are all those toxins and chemicals really worth it? While homemade ice cream is a different story, even premium store brands contain a shocking disregard for the health and well being of the children that will be eating them.
Part of the problem is the need to keep production costs down. Let's face it, quality and healthy eating are a lot more expensive than what is actually being sold. Perhaps the justification is that ice cream is so high in fat and sugar, anyway, that people are already being remiss by allowing their kids to eat it, so all gloves are off.
Aside from the obviously questionable choices such as rum raisin and amaretto triple fudge, let's take a look at bubble gum, cotton candy, and that oldie-but-goody, cookie dough. There are also some fairly new choices such as Superkid, which basically looks like what happens when you take red, blue, yellow, and purple Play Dough and smooth it together, as well as all the cornucopia of candy bar inspired offerings. We can be sure that the old adage about the less ingredients, the healthier it is, is blown way out of the water on any of those options.
Aside from the preservatives, the artificial colors used should give any parent pause. Pay particular attention to the "may contain" line at the end of the long list of undecipherable contents. Sure, there are the obligatory may contain peanuts, milk, egg, but, there are bigger culprits such as tartrazine.
There is a disturbing trend in the overwhelming use of soy and lecithin. Although soy is touted as healthy, it has some serious impacts on hormone development, by simulating the effects of estrogen. There is some buzz about early onset of puberty in today's kids. So, aside from rotting their teeth and their tummies on questionable ingredients, frozen treats should be evaluated for their part in why girls are growing breasts and getting periods earlier than what is considered normal. For the very same reason, boys are not as susceptible. In fact, they are likely to experience delayed puberty. Well, since people expect boys to be less mature than girls nobody has started paying too much attention yet.
