By Anne Custer

Do you live in Dallas, Houston, Denver, Des Moines, or Omaha? You’re in luck! Blue Bunny has come out with a dairy free ice cream line and it is being tested in Kroger stores in select cities. The line features four flavors: Chocolate, Vanilla, Mint Chip, and Mocha Fudge. The packaging does not claim to be vegan, but the ingredients look to be free of animal products. The source of sugar is not labeled. We have reached out to Blue Bunny asking if it is vegan and what exactly is in the “natural flavors.” Their response was: “Blue Bunny Dairy Free Ice Cream is not certified Vegan. The ingredients of the natural flavors are proprietary to our suppliers.” Whether or not this ice cream meets your needs, hopefully other companies will follow suit with their own dairy free ice cream. According to the Huffington Post, Ben & Jerry’s are currently in the works of their own product, but it won’t hit shelves until spring 2016. Here is the list of ingredients for Blue Bunny Dairy Free Ice Cream.

Chocolate:
INGREDIENTS: Almond Milk (Water, Almonds), Sugar, Corn Syrup, Coconut Oil, Cocoa Processed with Alkali, Inulin, Isolated Soy Protein, Contains 1% or less of Natural Flavors, Calcium Carbonate, Carob Bean Gum, Guar Gum, Carrageenan, Soy Lecithin.

Vanilla:
INGREDIENTS: Almond Milk (Water, Almonds), Water, Sugar, Corn Syrup, Coconut Oil, Inulin, Isolated Soy Protein, Vanilla Extract, Contains 1% or less of Calcium Carbonate, Carob Bean Gum, Guar Gum, Carrageenan, Soy Lecithin.

Mint Chip:
INGREDIENTS: Almond Milk (Water, Almonds), Sugar, Corn Syrup, Coconut Oil, Unsweetened Chocolate, Inulin, Isolated Soy Protein, Contains 1% or less of Natural Flavors, Calcium Carbonate, Carob Bean Gum, Guar Gum, Carrageenan, Soy Lecithin, Dextrose, Spirulina Extract for Color, Turmeric for Color.

Mocha Fudge:
INGREDIENTS: Almond Milk (Water, Almonds), Sugar, Chocolate Ribbon (Sugar, Water, Cocoa, Chocolate Liquor, Food Starch, Carrageenan, Vanilla Extract), Corn Syrup, Coconut Oil, Inulin, Isolated Soy Protein, Contains 1% or less of Natural Flavors, Coffee, Calcium Carbonate, Carob Bean Gum, Guar Gum, Carrageenan, Soy Lecithin, Caramel Color.

Information on inulin is here:
http://www.vrg.org/blog/2012/10/22/oligofructose-and-fructooligosaccharides-fos-derived-mostly-from-chicory-root-or-cane-sugar/

The contents of this posting, our website and our other publications, including Vegetarian Journal, are not intended to provide personal medical advice. Medical advice should be obtained from a qualified health professional. We often depend on product and ingredient information from company statements. It is impossible to be 100% sure about a statement, info can change, people have different views, and mistakes can be made. Please use your best judgment about whether a product is suitable for you. To be sure, do further research or confirmation on your own. If you are concerned, you may want to only eat at vegetarian or vegan restaurants.