How Much Ice Cream Are You Really Getting in That Scoop?

Good Housekeeping

I scream, you scream... and that could be just what you do after reading our report on ice cream serving sizes. To see if the portion and calorie info listed on an ice cream parlor's menu board or Website could be trusted, our GHRI team visited five shops in New York City on two separate occasions, buying a total of 50 scoops. Then we brought the samples back to the lab for weighing. The chilling results: At four of the five stores, scoops were 11 to 48 percent larger, on average, than the posted serving size. The fifth store came in under, averaging 7 percent less ice cream than promised. Here, the cold facts.


Most Consistent

We tested the mocha ice cream, and found that these scoops came the closest to the posted size the most often.

Official Serving Size: 5 oz. (320 calories)
Average Scoop Size: 5.53 oz.
Biggest Deviation in Size: 6.70 oz. (429 calories)
Biggest Calorie Deviation: +109

This summer, try making your own ice cream.

Runner-Up

Servings of coffee ice cream were typically over by an ounce or less.

Official Serving Size: 4 oz. (270 calories)
Average Scoop Size: 5.03 oz.
Biggest Deviation in Size: 6.17 oz. (417 calories)
Biggest Calorie Deviation: +147

Don't give up your favorite frozen treat. Try light ice cream instead.

Most Overserved

Our scoops of Jamoca were over by an average of nearly two ounces.

Official Serving Size: 4 oz. (240 calories)
Average Scoop Size: 5.91 oz.
Biggest Deviation in Size: 6.21 oz. (373 calories)
Biggest Calorie Deviation: +133

Stay smart when eating out with these healthy fast-food picks.

Unpredictable

Cups of vanilla ranged widely - from seven to nearly 10.5 ounces.

Official Serving Size: 7.5 oz. (450 calories)
Average Scoop Size: 8.41 oz.
Biggest Deviation in Size: 10.42 oz. (625 calories)
Biggest Calorie Deviation: +175

Get your portion right every time with these low-calorie ice cream treats.


Underdog

Generally, servers scooped up less of the Strawberry-Kiwi Sorbet than we paid for.

Official Serving Size: 6 oz. (185 calories)
Average Scoop Size: 5.56 oz.
Biggest Deviation in Size: 4.5 oz. (139 calories)
Biggest Calorie Deviation: -46

Try these tricks for portion control.


Cone Calculations
A calorie-free cup is always a good choice, but if you like you licks old-school, here's how you'll pay on the scale:



Regular cone: 17 calories





Sugar cone: 40 calories





Large waffle cone: 121 calories




PLUS:We taste-test some of the most common ice cream brands and teach you how to make your own cones.

TELL US: Would you rather have an accurate serving size (and calorie count) or get more bang for your buck?

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Reprinted with permission of Hearst Communications, Inc.