Remember cute Breyers commercials where the little boy reads the back of a non-Breyers ice cream container and can’t pronounce the artificial ingredients? Then he picks up a container of Breyers and can pronounce all of the ingredients because there are only four well-known natural ingredients: milk, cream, sugar, natural flavors. Well, now there is a fifth: tara gum. No, it’s not as scary to pronounce as cargenceen and gaur gum; but it’s not the simple ice cream that was formerly advertised. Tara gum is a new ingredient that Breyers has added to their ice creams to make them creamier.
Admittedly, when I first reviewed Breyers Natural Vanilla ice cream it didn’t even occur to me to look at the ingredients. A commenter informed me that the Breyers Natural Vanilla recipe was no longer as simple– tara gum had been added. Sure enough, I looked at the ingredients on the package and there it was. Since then, I have spent some time investigating this new addition to Breyers ice cream and will discuss my findings in a 4 part series. Today, in the first story of the series, I will outline the basics about tara gum and detail Breyers response to some questions I asked them. In the upcoming weeks I will post a taste test comparing Breyers All Natural Vanilla with and without tara gum, specify odd ingredients in other brands’ ice creams, and conclude with a story about the future of ice cream ingredients.
Tara gum is a natural ingredient from the tara tree, a plant commonly found in South America and Africa. Studies have shown it to be safe for human consumption. New Zealand and Australia Food Standards approved it as did the World Health Organization. However, the results of these studies were not entirely positive, as tara gum is indigestible and causes various problems when consumed in high quantities (>5%) by rats and dogs. Though, most humans will not consume this amount of tara gum and should not have anything to worry about.
Due to my curiosity about tara gum I contacted Unilever (the parent company of Breyers) with a number of questions about the product. These questions included:
When tara gum was first added to Breyers ice cream?
Is tara gum (or a similar substance) added to all of the Breyers ice creams or only
certain flavors? Also, is it added to other Unilever brands, such as Ben and Jerry’s?
Is there any plan to add tara gum to other brands of ice creams in the future?
Does the addition have anything to do with the Double Churned ice cream that is now being
sold?
Why was it decided that tara gum should be added to the ice cream?
Have you received complaints about the new additive?
A PR representative from GolinHarris got back to me with the following response:
In response to your questions regarding the use of tara gum in its ice cream, Breyers is proud of its all-natural heritage. It’s a position we take very seriously and one we work hard to maintain. We value the confidence our customers have in our products and go to great lengths to ensure exceptional quality and great taste.
So when consumers expressed concern over the texture of our products, we responded. By adding a natural gum to Breyers All Natural Vanilla ice cream, we’ve helped to protect the product’s texture while staying true to our all-natural commitment. We use tara gum from natural plant sources to help Breyers ice cream stay creamier and more enjoyable for longer periods of time.
Because ice cream is temperature-sensitive, this addition has further allowed us to ensure the ice cream’s quality throughout it distribution. As you can imagine, ice cream’s taste and texture can be unfavorably affected if exposed to temperature fluctuations during shipping or storage. Our customers describe the problem as ice cream with a “gritty” or “grainy” texture. In fact, growing distribution and increased handling of our ice cream in the marketplace has indeed resulted in greater chances for temperature abuse and heightened potential for texture problems.
Clearly, Unilever’s/Breyers response didn’t address the majority of my questions, which made me think that they’re not completely convinced that tara gum fits into the category of traditionally “natural products.” So my curiosity about this mysterious ingredient intensified and I decided more research was necessary. Stay tuned for my findings as I explore and analyze the ingredients of non-Breyers ice creams. Is this tara gum phenomenon is unique to Breyers or is it an industry-wide trend?
{ 5 trackbacks }
{ 307 comments… read them below or add one }
← Previous Comments
I suffer from digestive issues and food allergies and have to spend three hours in a grocery store figuring out what I can eat. When I first discovered Breyers “All Natural” ice cream I was overjoyed! But now, with the Tara Gum, I get digestive issues and have had to search for yet another ice cream. I think I’ll buy an ice cream maker and make my own. I don’t think the recipe it comes with will tell me to use Tara Gum when I make it.
It is not greed it is stupidity – but if we don’t buy it then they won’t be able to sell it – make sure you stick to your guns and we can take back out super markets!! Share what you know and then no one will buy the crap they sell since the 80’s.
That includes- aspartame- in most gums BTW and addictive! Gives headaches! Sucralose Splenda- real crap too. Strokes, brain tumors, seizures and joint pain from them. Use agave and stevia.
( poor diabetics were the biggest target of this tragic change from saccharine- rumor about it causing cancer is a lie!! Big BUsiness wanted their paws on the fake sugar market- diets were a big trend!)
Stay away from Gardasil!!! Evil and will leave you a victim of rheumatiod arthritis ( homebound!) Polysorbate 80- evil!! Triple Vaccines like MMR- triple the dose of timersol ( lethal) and aluminum or mercury- lethal. BE CAREFUL! READ your LABELS!
Breyer’s new formula is clearly inferior. I used to salivate at the prospect of consuming their ice cream, and now it taste like processed garbage like all ice cream filled with whey and tara gum. Haagen Daaz is the only really common brand left that DOESN’T put garbage in their product. And you can taste the difference. Eat a scoop of new Breyer’s coffee ice cream, then compare it to Haagen Daaz coffee. I used to deem them equally tasty, with their own uniquely desirable palette of flavors. Now Breyer’s taste TERRIBLE!!! What a shame. One of the most stalwart and delectable brands ruined by cost-cutting. And they thought the discerning ice cream aficionados wouldn’t notice!!!! The public will, in time, turn away from their new product. It’s pricier than the really cheapo brands, so there’s no reason to buy it if its filled with the same trash.
ICE CREAM CONNOISSEUR SIGNING OUT
Okay I just went through that Gloria lady’s post—- I thought this was an ice cream Web site!!! I was kind of with you about the synthetic sugars, and then you start rambling about vaccines?? I don’t think you’re in the right forum man!! Now, if the Breyer’s folks ever come across these more pointed critiques of their new crap ingredients, they are going to write the comments off as the pontifications of a bunch of health-food nuts!
I couldn’t find anything about tara gum in Harold McGee’s “On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen.”
What I do notice is that Breyer’s ice cream with tara gum in it is more sticky than I remember it being before they started adding it.
I suspect that it enables them to get a higher yield and that they’re listening more to their biz-school boys–for whom ROI is king–than to their customers–for whom taste is what it’s all about.
I hope others will ask them to reconsider. After all, tara gum is not natural–it does not occur in nature–but is, instead, a processed food.
Tara gum is a genetically modified fish protein (GMO). Unilever is all about cost cutting. Unilever does not care about the product or what the customer really wants. It’s all about the profit.
I am curious about taragum because as much as I enjoy ice cream ,I am usually satisfied with a cup serving.Not so with the Breyers Chocolate Crackle.I can eat the whole 1/2 gallon at one sitting,although I haven’t allowed myself to do so,but wondered what possibly “addictive ingredient” might be lurking within and if anyone else has had this experience.It is just too delicious !
← Previous Comments