12 Of The Unhealthiest Halo Top Flavors

‌For people who love ice cream but want to make healthier choices, Halo Top feels like the answer. The company's main selling point is that its ice cream contains way less sugar and fewer calories than other ice cream products. As well as this, many of its dessert items are high in protein. All of this adds up to a picture of health — but is that always the case? 

The ice cream company, which is on a mission to make "light ice cream that actually tastes like ice cream," has achieved stratospheric success in the blink of an eye. Founded in 2012, the company came about thanks to CEO Justin Woolverton's desire to make a creamy treat without excessive use of sweeteners, and within three years, it had grown over 20 times in size. "It was just something that I was making in my kitchen because I didn't like sugar ... It wasn't until later, when I got an actual $20 ice cream maker, that I was like, 'Oh, wow, there's something here,'" Woolverton states via Inc.

Halo Top has dozens of flavors in its selection, and some of them, despite its healthy ambitions, don't actually look that great nutritionally. In this article, we sought out the flavors that still contain excessive amounts of added sugar or saturated fat, are curiously high in calories, and may have some unexpected ingredients lurking inside them.

Halo Top's Candy Bar variety is a mishmash of nougat, chocolate, and caramel swirls, and with those ingredients, we wouldn't blame you for not trusting that it's totally unhealthy. Unfortunately, you might be right. This flavor is higher in added sugar than many other Halo Top choices, having 17 grams in every container; it also has 15% of your daily value for sodium, which is never a good sign in a sweet food. Calories-wise, too, it sits on the upper end of the brand's offerings and has 360 calories per pint.

Now, in comparison to other desserts, this may not be so bad — but in isolation, it's not great. Humans generally need to consume around 2,000 to 2,500 calories per day, with a little more or less required depending on your level of activity and age. Eat a whole tub of Halo Top Candy Bar, and you could be having around 20% of your daily caloric intake, and spending it on an item that's pretty processed. 

Many ice cream companies out there have a chocolate chip cookie dough flavor, but few brand themselves as healthy. Halo Top's Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough variety is different, and with a high amount of protein and fiber per serving, we can certainly see the positives. Where this ice cream stumbles, however, is in its other nutritional aspects. With 19 grams of added sugar per container, this is one of the most sugary Halo Top flavors, and it also contains 360 calories.

It's its saturated fat levels, though, which really let it down. In each pint, there are 5 grams of saturated fat. This may not sound excessive, but once you consider the fact that there's a large amount of air in Halo Top ice cream, and a full tub only actually weighs around 256 grams, it's pretty clear how quickly you can get through a whole container. Saturated fats are particularly dense, and because of this, our system finds it harder to break them down. This means that they end up being converted into triglycerides that raise our blood cholesterol levels, per SELF.

Red velvet cake is one of life's great indulgences, and when it's in ice cream form, it's even better. Just don't expect it to be super healthy — even when it's Halo Top. The company's Red Velvet Ice Cream has an added sugar amount that you might reasonably expect from a regular ice cream, with 18 grams per container. In total, the ice cream contains 31 grams of sugar in the whole carton, a fairly high amount that contributes to its overall higher calorie count.

Additionally, while much is made of Halo Top's high protein varieties, the Red Velvet flavor sits on the slightly lower end of the scale, with 17 grams per container. Now, don't get us wrong -– that's still a lot more than most ice creams. If you're actively seeking protein from this dessert, though, you may want to consider other flavors. It is also prudent to keep in mind that getting all of this protein from your ice cream may not be the best strategy. Following a high-protein diet long-term may have an impact on your heart health, and may also worsen kidney function, according to the Mayo Clinic.

The Halo Top tub is by now pretty well-known, but the company also makes portable ice creams for when you're on the go. Its Sea Salt Caramel Pops are especially enticing, and with just 100 calories in each ice cream, they initially look to be a winner. However, they're still surprisingly high in added sugar. Each pop has 5 grams of added sugar per serving and 1.5 grams of saturated fat, which is no insignificant amount for a food item branded as healthy.

It's also vital to consider where Halo Top products get their sweetness from, in the absence of more sugar — and how they manage to be so high in fiber. One look at the ingredients list for its Sea Salt Caramel Pops reveals all, where you'll see two ingredients prominently listed: inulin and erythritol. Inulin is a fiber that's often derived from chicory root, and although it's generally safe to use, in some people, it can cause gastrointestinal issues like cramping, gas, and increased frequency of needing to go to the bathroom (via WebMD). Erythritol, on the other hand, is a low-calorie sweetener that can also cause digestive upset, per Healthline. ‌

Halo Top has both basic and more extravagant flavors in its range, and its Chocolate Caramel Lava Cake is one of its more out-there options. Part of the company's keto series, it has just 8 grams of net carbs in every pint (its total carb count is significantly higher, but most of these are fiber and sugar alcohol). However, just as extravagant as its flavor is its levels of other nutrients like saturated fat, sodium, calories, and cholesterol.

Alongside the 23 grams of saturated fat in each carton, the Chocolate Caramel Lava Cake option has a whopping 570 calories, 600 milligrams of sodium per pint. This is over a quarter of your daily value, and even a serving of it, weighing in at 91 grams, has 200 milligrams, which is still high. Additionally, there are 145 milligrams of cholesterol in the carton, almost half of your daily value for the nutrient. While consuming cholesterol isn't a risk factor for higher blood cholesterol in a lot of people, in certain individuals it is, especially considering the fact that this substance goes hand-in-hand with higher saturated fat levels (per the CDC).

Halo Top doesn't just make dairy-based frozen desserts; it also produces a range of sorbets which, similar to its ice cream products, are designed to be lower in sugar than the average offering. Unfortunately, what they lack in sugar, they make up for in other things that you may not want. Take its Strawberry Sorbet, for example. It has no fat, saturated fat, or cholesterol, but it is absurdly high in fiber, with 43 grams per tub — 152% of your daily value.

Getting enough fiber is important, but getting too much is a problem. Excessive fiber consumption can be heavy on our gut and disrupt our normal bowel action. This can lead to gas, bloating, and constipation, according to EatingWell.

As well as this, the Strawberry Sorbet may claim it has "54% less sugar" than others, but it still contains ... well ... A lot of sugar. There are 38 grams of added sugar in each container, which is way higher than any of the company's ice cream flavors. This could be more than the entirety you should be eating in a full day, regardless of your body composition or activity level.