Aussies rage at ‘new recipe’ for Coles cult $4.50 vanilla ‘ice cream’
A photo of a popular Coles product in a shopper’s rubbish bin has exposed a little-known detail about the cult $4.50 supermarket favourite.
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Coles shoppers are up in arms over a tiny new detail on the supermarket’s own brand “ice cream”.
The retail giant has just unveiled a “new recipe” for its “Simply Vanilla” frozen treat, which is favoured by customers due to its affordable price point. It currently stands at $4.50 for a 2L tub.
But while the price is definitely not to be sniffed at, especially considering a 1L tub of vanilla bean ice cream from the Coles “Irresistible” range costs $6, Aussies have pointed out there’s something amiss about the “new look” freezer item.
“PSA: Coles vanilla ice cream is no longer ice cream, it’s now a ‘flavoured frozen dessert’,” one eagle-eyed shopper claimed on Reddit, alongside a photo of their tub in the rubbish bin.
“I assume they can’t call it ice cream anymore since the first ingredient is water.
“As a lifelong cheap ice cream eater, this stuff is not fit for human consumption. Here it is, pictured in the bin, where it belongs.”
Coles was quick to reassure customers, stating the product’s flavour remains the same.
“Dessert lovers can rest assured that this product still has the same great taste they know and love,” a spokesperson told news.com.au.
The supermarket added it was glad to bring the item back to stores after production was “disrupted by the Lismore floods”.
Codes set by Food Standards Australia state “ice cream means a sweet frozen food that is made from cream or milk products or both, and other foods, and is generally aerated”.
According to the regulations, in order for ice cream to be labelled as such, the product needs to “contain not less than 10 per cent milk fat, 3.5 per cent protein and 36 per cent total solids”.
It added that starch may be added, but only to a maximum extent of 5 per cent under a declaration on the label, and said the same standards for ice cream also apply to softie – also known as soft serve – ice cream.
If a product doesn’t meet these specific compositional requirements, then it cannot be called ice cream.
News.com.au understands the recipe for this Coles product initially changed about five years ago, but it appears the recent packaging redesign has drawn attention to it.
Coles hasn’t commented on what the “new recipe” changes were, but the old label had described the popular treat as “vanilla flavoured ice dessert” and now reads “flavoured frozen dessert”.
Coles hasn’t disclosed the exact percentage of ingredients used on the frozen vanilla dessert’s label.
It does state that the main ingredient is water, followed by sugar syrup then glucose syrup. Skimmed milk concentrate is the fourth item listed followed by “maltodextrin”, a form of wheat, then “cream and/or milk fat”.
Milk solids, coconut oil and “vegetable gums” follow suit before a handful of “natural” flavourings and colourings.
On the Coles website, the product makes no claim to be called ice cream, described online as “Coles Simply Vanilla Ice Dessert”.
Meanwhile, the packing itself calls the supermarket item “flavoured frozen dessert”.
Interestingly, the 4L version – which sells for $7 – still describes the popular product as “Coles Simply Vanilla Ice Cream”.
Fired up Aussies have been quick to blast the retailer, with one taking to TikTok to share his dismay.
“You may have noticed Coles is no longer selling ice cream, instead its called a ‘frozen flavoured dessert’,” Dylan Grady shared in a recent video.
“Why? Because it no longer meets the legal definition.”
The clip quickly garnered hundreds of thousands of views with many weighing in on the supermarket’s apparent move.
“That’s not ice cream, it’s some abomination,” one raged.
“Well I will not be buying Coles ice cream any more, or should I say frozen dessert!?” another agreed.
As one claimed: “Most home brand ice creams suck coz it’s hard and icy with no flavour.”
“‘New Look – same great taste’, lol get stuffed,” one bloke fumed.
One user who claimed to work for the supermarket giant even wrote: “As a Coles employee, please don’t buy Coles brand products. They’re garbage.”
There were some however who said they didn’t mind, as long as it stood up to the taste test.
“I’d still eat it if it’s cheap and tastes good,” one woman wrote.
“If it tastes like ice cream, looks like ice cream, smells like ice cream, it’ll do,” another agreed.
Others were shocked to discover the little-known detail about food labels and ice cream, simply stating: “No way?”
News.com.au has contacted Australian Food Standards for further comment.
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