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The company offers more than 47 products, including high protein ice cream pints and pops. They also offer several nondairy and keto-friendly options, which are available in a variety of flavors.
However, some people wonder whether these frozen treats really are all they’re cracked up to be.
We tried the most popular Halo Top flavors to provide an inside scoop on the taste, texture, ingredients, and nutrition.
Owned by the Iowa-based company Wells Enterprises, Halo Top was founded in 2012 by Eden Creamery.
The pint-size ice cream is a bestselling frozen dessert brand that’s available throughout the United States, Canada, Mexico, New Zealand, Australia, and some European countries.
Halo Top has significantly fewer calories than traditional ice cream because it contains natural sugar substitutes and less cream.
It’s also made of a mix of natural and organic ingredients. For example, Halo Top uses dairy products from conventionally raised cows and organic cane sugar.
In addition to the original dairy-based varieties, Halo Top comes in versions suitable for people following vegan or keto diets. The brand also offers dairy- and fruit-based pops.
The dairy-based pints are among the most popular Halo Top products and boast the largest selection of flavors.
The brand also has a variety of dairy pops, which are individually wrapped and sold in packs of four.
In addition to being made with real fruit, most of the fruit pops from Halo Top are dairy-free and lower in calories than the other pops they offer.
Halo Top offers a small selection of dairy-free ice cream pints, which are made with coconut cream instead of milk.
Halo Top provides several keto-friendly options for both pints and pops, which are higher in protein and contain a low amount of net carbs per serving.
Halo Top is often compared with premium — higher fat and super creamy — pint-size ice cream products. However, it’s also important to compare it with regular ice cream.
Here’s how vanilla Halo Top stacks up against regular and premium vanilla ice cream, per 1/2-cup serving (1, 2, 3):
As shown above, Halo Top ice cream contains about half the calories of regular ice cream and less than a third of the calories of premium ice cream. This is because it’s lower in fat and sugar.
Additionally, a 1/2-cup (64-gram) serving of Halo Top has 5 grams of protein, or 10% of the DV. Though modest, this is more than twice the amount of protein in regular ice cream.
From a vitamin and mineral standpoint, the main contribution of any ice cream is calcium, which is important for strong bones. Still, one serving of Halo Top contains only 10% of the DV for calcium, while a 1-cup (240-ml) serving of milk has 21% of the DV (1, 2, 4).
For example, products in the keto series are higher in protein and lower in carbs, with 6–7 grams of protein and 2–3 grams of net carbs — which are calculated by subtracting the amount of fiber from the total amount of carbs — per 2/3-cup (87-gram) serving (5).
On the other hand, nondairy pints contain 100–120 calories and 3–4 grams of protein per 2/3-cup (87-gram) serving, while fruit pops provide 35–90 calories each and contain less than 1 gram of protein (6, 7).
Halo Top ice cream comes in more than two dozen traditional and whimsical flavors, such as Birthday Cake and Peanut Butter Cup, all of which contain the same core ingredients.
Generally, most flavors include ingredients like skim milk, erythritol, eggs, prebiotic fiber, cream, organic cane sugar, vegetable glycerin, and organic stevia leaf extract. However, the ingredients may vary slightly for specific flavors.
For instance, in addition to the ingredients listed above, the vanilla flavor also includes milk protein concentrate, natural flavors, sea salt, vanilla beans, organic carob gum, and organic guar gum.
The dairy-based pops contain most of the same ingredients as the pints in varying amounts but are made without soluble corn fiber.
In vegan versions, the milk and eggs are replaced with a base of coconut cream mixed with water, which is essentially reduced fat coconut milk.
Most Halo Top fruit pops are made with real fruit and contain other ingredients such as soluble corn fiber, sugar, stevia, natural flavors, citric acid, and lemon juice concentrate.
Meanwhile, items in the keto series have most of the same ingredients as the dairy-based ice creams and pops but contain more cream and are made without cane sugar.
In addition to cane sugar, Halo Top contains two natural sugar substitutes — stevia leaf extract and erythritol.
Stevia leaf extract comes from the Stevia rebaudiana plant and is calorie-free (2, 8).
Erythritol is virtually calorie-free in the amounts typically used. The source of this sweetener varies. The erythritol used in Halo Top ice cream is made from yeast fermentation of corn starch (9, 10).
Because of its chemical structure, erythritol is classified as a sugar alcohol. In contrast to other sweeteners of this type, including sorbitol, it’s unlikely to cause nausea or diarrhea unless you eat more than 50 grams. One pint of Halo Top ice cream contains 20 grams (11).
Ice cream doesn’t naturally contain fiber. However, Halo Top contains added prebiotic fiber, which may fuel the growth of good bacteria in your large intestine (12).
Two gums — carob and guar — are also used in the ice cream. They come from carob seeds and guar beans, both of which are legumes (13, 14).
These gums are soluble fibers, meaning they absorb liquid and form a gel. They are added to Halo Top to help replace fat and stabilize the product. This helps reduce ice crystal formation, resulting in a smoother texture (15, 16).
Nevertheless, Halo Top doesn’t have the same creamy texture as regular ice cream. Rather, it may feel somewhat dry in your mouth.
Some of the protein in dairy-based Halo Top products comes from skim milk and eggs. The rest comes from milk protein concentrate — milk that has been filtered to collect the proteins (17).
The protein in the nondairy, vegan versions is isolated from rice and peas. It amounts to only 3 grams per 1/2-cup (64-gram) serving, compared with 5 grams in the dairy varieties.
Glycerin, which is made from vegetable oil and helps retain moisture, improves the product’s texture and may provide subtle sweetness (18).
It’s uncertain what the natural flavors are, because they’re regarded as trade secrets. “Natural” simply means they’re derived from plants, animals, or the action of microbes (19).
The natural colors come from the juices of vegetables and fruits, as well as golden-colored turmeric and annatto, a red plant extract.
Like many other processed foods, Halo Top ice cream has pros and cons for your health.
Halo Top ice cream contains significantly fewer calories than traditional ice cream and supplies hunger-satisfying protein. This enables you to enjoy a treat while staying within your calorie goals (20, 21, 22).
What’s more, due to its lower content of added sugars, Halo Top ice cream may not increase your blood sugar as much as the same serving size of regular ice cream (23, 24).
Lastly, sugar substitutes such as stevia and erythritol don’t promote tooth decay and may even help kill bacteria that erode tooth enamel (25, 26, 27, 28).
The pull-top foil on Halo Top ice cream says, “Stop when you hit the bottom,” and the face of the vanilla carton notes that it contains 280 calories per pint. This seems to imply that it’s fine to eat the entire container in one sitting. However, it contains four servings per pint.
Eating it by the pint may encourage unhealthy portion control habits and cheat you out of the vitamins, minerals, and plant compounds that more nutritious foods could provide. It could also significantly increase your intake of added sugars (29).
Consuming too much added sugar isn’t good for your health and is linked to various health conditions, such as obesity, heart disease, and diabetes (30, 31).
Though lower in calories, Halo Top should not be viewed as healthy but instead as what it really is — a lower calorie alternative to ice cream.
Aside from calcium and protein, Halo Top is not a good source of nutrients. Plus, it doesn’t have the same creaminess as regular ice cream, which could leave you feeling dissatisfied.
Additionally, overeating Halo Top products could make you gassy, because your gut bacteria ferment the prebiotic fiber added to the ice cream (32).
Lastly, in rare cases, certain ingredients in the product, including erythritol, guar gum, and carob gum, have been linked to allergic reactions in some older case studies (33, 34, 35, 36).
Typically, a pint of Halo Top — including dairy-based, nondairy, and keto varieties — can range from around $4–$6.
Fruit pops, dairy-based pops, and keto pops are available at a similar price point and typically cost around $4–$5 for a pack with 4–6 servings.
Halo Top ice creams and pops can be purchased at most major supermarkets. To find a specific product, you can enter your zip code on the brand’s website to locate a store near you that has it in stock.
Though it’s lower in sugar than regular ice cream, Halo Top generally does have a sweet taste and rich flavor.
However, because it uses stevia and sugar alcohols for added sweetness, certain flavors do have a stronger aftertaste, and some people may find that it tastes artificial.
It also doesn’t have the same creamy consistency as ice cream, which is a result of its lower fat and sugar content. Instead, it has an icy, slightly grainy texture and freezes harder than regular ice cream.
For this reason, it’s recommended to let Halo Top ice cream sit out on the counter for a few minutes before eating it. This helps soften it up a bit before you dig in.
Healthline Nutrition and Fitness Editor Kelli McGrane, MS, RD, and I sampled a total of 10 of the most popular Halo Top ice cream flavors to determine which are worth the hype and which ones you should skip. Here’s what we found.
But don’t get too excited about the promises of weight loss when downing pints a day, or even one pint in a sitting. This is not a healthy, balanced or recommended way to eat.
Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough: 3/5
While some may enjoy this flavor, I found that the chocolate chips were too small and there weren’t enough chunks of cookie dough to really match the taste and texture you might expect from regular cookie dough ice cream.
However, though it wasn’t my top pick, I still enjoyed it and would buy it again.
“I’m sure some people will disagree, but as a mint chip fan, I was pretty disappointed by Halo Top Mint Chip,” says McGrane.
While there was a good amount of chips mixed in and she found the mint flavor nice and refreshing with the first bite, she also noted that there’s a slight aftertaste, which felt more artificial than the other flavors she tried.
Sea Salt Caramel: 4/5
This flavor had a rich and pleasant taste and featured a drizzle of caramel throughout to give it an extra boost of creaminess. The caramel could have been dispersed more evenly, but it was still one of my favorite flavors.
McGrane found that this flavor was sweeter and had a creamier texture than the Vanilla Bean. It also included a variety of warming spices, which she notes were reminiscent of a real oatmeal cookie.
However, she didn’t love the texture, noting that the flakes of oats seemed strange in ice cream and that oatmeal cookie chunks may have worked better instead.
PROBLEMS with HALO TOP and other “Healthy” Ice Creams | Registered Dietitian
FAQ
Is it okay to eat a pint of Halo Top?
What is a serving size of Halo Top?
How many calories in a whole pint of Halo top ice cream?
How much does a pint of Halo Top weigh?
Can you eat a pint of Halo Top ice cream?
It’s also great that you can eat an entire pint of Halo Top without feeling super guilty, since ice cream is one of those foods with wildly unrealistic serving sizes. The sweeteners and thickeners used in Halo Top to mimic the taste and texture of traditional ice cream are all fairly safe.
How many calories in a pint of Halo Top a day?
But as a data geek with an incredible sweet tooth, I quickly did some math: By eating five pints of Halo Top a day, one would get a whopping 120 grams of protein, only 80 grams of carbohydrates, and a respectable 60 grams of fat—at only 1,200 calories.
Does Halo Top taste like ice cream?
Halo Top also claims ⅙ the fat and carbs and 25% more protein than typical ice cream. And it tasted…like ice cream. Not simply like a frozen protein shake or like Arctic Zero brand “frozen dessert,” which is about as satisfying as eating snow. No, this stuff was real. I ate a whole pint of chocolate in the parking lot.
How many calories in a pint of Halo Top ice cream?
There are between 240 and 360 calories per pint of Halo Top, whereas premium ice creams, like Ben & Jerry’s, have that many calories in just 1/2 cup (that’s one-quarter of a pint). If you’re a Halo Top fanatic-by all means, feel free to indulge in this frozen dessert over real ice cream.