10 Healthiest and Unhealthiest Chocolate Ice Creams for Your Summer Social

Ice cream socials are the perfect way to kiss summer goodbye on a sweet note. While vanilla tastes delicious with almost any topping, chocolate doesn't really need anything but itself. Chocolate ice cream is legendary — the first recipe for this indulgent dessert was published in Naples, Italy, in 1692 — and has been around for even longer than vanilla ice cream. But most people who enjoy a frozen treat at their social are nervous about the calorie count — and with good reason.

10 Healthiest and Unhealthiest Chocolate Ice Creams for Your Summer Social

Ice cream contains lots of sugar, sodium, and animal fats. Milk is an essential ingredient in ice cream: it provides structure, boosts creaminess, delivers flavor, and stabilizes the tiny air bubbles that influence the texture. Unfortunately, the fats in milk also raise blood cholesterol levels and are believed to contribute to obesity, heart disease, and cancer. We’re sharing nutritional facts for a few of the healthiest and unhealthiest chocolate ice creams, judging healthiness in terms of fat, sugar, salt (yes, there's salt in most ice cream, theoretically to help bring out the sweetness), and calories.

Let us know what you’re willing to sacrifice — healthfulness or flavor?

Breyers

Breyer’s has a lower calorie count and fewer grams of sugar per serving than any of the other ice creams we considered, which is why it tops the list as the healthiest store-bought ice cream to serve at your summer social.

Calories: 130 per ½ cup

Sodium: 50 milligrams

Cholesterol: 25 milligrams

Total Fat: 7 grams

Sugar: 12 grams

Blue Bunny

Blue Bunny

Comparatively, Blue Bunny only narrowly escaped being the healthiest chocolate ice cream brand because of its slightly higher sugar content. — Lauren Gordon

Calories: 130  per ½ cup

Sodium: 40 milligrams

Cholesterol: 25 milligrams

Total Fat: 6 grams

Sugar: 14 grams