Of the 358 varieties analyzed, representing 48 brands, we discovered 24 different base types with coconut, oats, almonds and cashews being the most common base type. The huge variety of plant-based frozen desserts gives the consumer a variety of choices. Most consumers look for an ice cream, or a non-dairy alternative that is creamy and sweet, without an excessive number of calories. In this study, two in five products had 200 calories or less (10% of daily value or DV). Increasingly, consumers want healthier products, without too much saturated fat, fat and sugar, nutrients often associated with chronic diseases [14,15,16]. Sugar provides not only sweetness but also texture to the product.

As expected, most of the frozen desserts were high in sugar. About 90% of the products had 10 g (20% of DV) or more of sugar per serving. Due to the presence of coconut oil in many of the products, over 70% had high levels of saturated fat. On the other hand, only 24% of the desserts had high fat levels (over 15.5 g of fat or 20% of DV). About 70% of the desserts had low levels of sodium (no more than 115 mg sodium/serving or 5% of DV). Non-dairy frozen desserts are available that provide lower saturated fat and sugar contents.

From Table 1 we see that coconut-based products have significantly more saturated fat than nine other based products (almond, apple/hemp, avocado, canola oil, faba protein, oats/hemp, olive oil, rice and soy). Furthermore, the apple/hemp-, avocado- and faba bean-based products contain significantly less sugar than almond-, canola oil-, olive oil-, rice- and sunflower-based products.

Some companies make an effort to provide low sugar options for their dairy-free frozen desserts [17]. These products may contain one or more of the following low-calorie sweeteners as a sugar alternative: erythritol, allulose, monk fruit extract and/or stevia. These substances have little, if any, caloric value and do not raise the blood sugar levels making them useful for persons with diabetes and those wanting to manage their weight [18,19]. Erythritol a sugar alcohol, has 70% of the sweetness of sucrose but only 5% of the caloric value [20] and may cause gastrointestinal discomfort and diarrhea in large quantities [20]. Allulose, an isomer of fructose, has antioxidant activity and has 70% of the sweetness of sucrose. In addition, D-allulose shows anti-hyperglycemic effect in people with glucose intolerance [21]. Monk fruit (or Luo han guo) extract is up to 250 times sweeter than sugar, due mainly to the presence of compound mogroside V [22]. Monk fruit extract has no energy value and has exhibited anti-hyperglycemic effects [20]. A triterpenoid glycoside from monk fruit has been shown to have anti-proliferative activity with the potential for treating colorectal cancer [23]. Stevia extract contains glycosides that are zero calorie sweeteners and are 200–400 times sweeter than sucrose. All these alternative sweeteners have GRAS (General Recognized As Safe) status as designated by the FDA in the US [20].

One brand of frozen dessert used honey for sweetening while three brands sweetened with dates and five brands used agave syrup. These sweeteners are considered healthy alternatives to sugar [19,24].

Coconut oil was used in 41 of the 48 brands (85%) of frozen desserts. Because of its high saturated fat content, the coconut oil influenced the median level of saturated fat for the combined dairy-free frozen desserts. The overall median was 8 g of saturated fat with a range for those with coconut oil of 7–13 g saturated fat. Those products containing other plant oils such as olive, soy, canola, or avocado, but not containing coconut oil, had a median value that ranged from 0 to 3 g of saturated fat. Almost 11% of the desserts had low saturated fat levels (Table 2). The saturated fat in coconut oil is considered to have an unhealthy impact on cardiovascular health [25,26]. While coconut oil (and especially virgin coconut oil) produces a better lipid profile than the animal fats, other plant oils are considered a better choice for one’s cardiovascular health [27].

Most of the base types (11 out of the 17 base types in Table 1) were low (below 5% DV) in protein. The desserts that had three or more grams of protein were typically those based upon or containing nuts and seeds, rather than the expected ones based upon pea protein or soy. While soy- and pea protein-based non-dairy beverages and yogurts were observed to contain the highest protein levels/serving among the many base types [8], such was not the case for the frozen desserts. Soy- and pea protein-based frozen desserts averaged only 1.5 and 2 g/serving, respectively, lower than six (35%) other base types. It is interesting to note that soy-based beverages were far more common (17%) among the beverage base types than was soy-based frozen desserts among the base types available (3.1%).

About 15% of the products (a total of 53) contained at least 4 g of protein, a value commonly given for the protein level of regular dairy ice cream [28]. All five brands that had the highest protein level (3 g and above) contained nuts or seeds, but the presence of nuts and seeds was not a guarantee of a high protein level, since the protein level of macadamia nut-based products was only 1 g and the sunflower seed based desserts had an average of 2 g protein. The frozen desserts based upon fruits (apple or pear) had the highest protein levels, as the food companies had increased the protein level by adding nuts or seeds.

In a comparison of 45 dairy ice creams (13 brands) and 14 dairy-free frozen desserts (eight brands) by the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), the dairy-free alternatives were observed to have a higher level of saturated fat and added sugars/serving, but only one-half the median protein level/serving than the dairy options [29]. The data are summarized in Table S4. The common use of coconut oil in most of the dairy-free products explains their high saturated fat content. The median values for calories, saturated fat, sugar and protein (Table S4) match very closely with the medians for those nutrients given in Table 1 for our results.

None of the frozen desserts were fortified with calcium, or with vitamin D or B12, in contrast to what we found in non-dairy beverages and yogurts [8,10,30]. Regular dairy ice creams typically provide about 110–130 mg/serving or about 10% DV of calcium and negligible amounts (zero to 4% DV/serving) of vitamin D [28,31,32]. Vitamin B12 levels in ice cream typically range from 0.2 to 0.5 mcg/serving (8 to 20% DV) [33,34]. A significant number of frozen desserts (16%) had at least 10% of the DV/serving for iron. This was typical for those products containing peanut butter. While the non-dairy products contain no cholesterol, the regular dairy ice creams contain about 40–70 mg cholesterol/serving [28,31,32].

One brand of frozen desserts contained seven live cultures, similar to those added to non-dairy yogurts [8]. About 30% of the frozen desserts contained inulin, or the inulin-containing products chicory root or agave syrup. Inulin consumption is reported to enhance the absorption of minerals, supports a healthy immune system, improves bowel function and helps manage blood sugar levels [35]. Both prebiotic (inulin extracts) and probiotic (live cultures) substances modulate human colonic flora and maintain a healthy gut function that facilitates the health and well-being of the consumer [36,37]. Carob bean gum and guar gum were the most commonly used substances as stabilizers in the frozen desserts. These water-soluble gums are reported to be useful for managing glycemia and hypercholesterolemia [38,39]. Eleven products were identified as soy-based (Table 1). Soy is reported to provide a variety of useful health benefits for the consumer [40].

A smaller sample of frozen desserts in the form of chocolate-coated bars and sandwiches was compared with the 358 pints. Comparing Table 1 and Table 3, we see that the nutrient levels/serving (except protein) of the bars and sandwiches are 50–75% of the nutrient levels/serving of the pints. Given that the median serving size of the bars and sandwiches is about 50–60% that of the pints, it is apparent that the smaller amounts of calories, fat, saturated fat and sugar in the bars and sandwiches is due to their smaller serving size. The type of base did not affect the calorie, fat, carbohydrate, sugar or protein content (Table 3). This may be due to the small sample size and the variable serving size of the frozen desserts.

Consumers who desire a more healthful or nutritious non-dairy frozen dessert have very few choices available. Table 4 summarizes the data showing the base types that have the more healthful nutrient levels/serving. Included in the table are the brands currently available that most importantly have lower levels of saturated fat and sugar and a higher level of protein comparable to the dairy product. Apple/hemp protein-based desserts have all three of those above-mentioned characteristics, while avocado and fava bean-based desserts both have two of those three characteristics. All three brands avoid coconut oil and two of the brands enhance their sweetness by use of monk fruit extract and/or fruit puree. These desserts would be considered the healthiest choices, when consumed in moderation. Consumers should be encouraged to read nutrition labels to educate themselves so they can make appropriate choices for better nutrition.

Manufacturers need to provide healthier and more nutritious non-dairy frozen dessert options for those consumers who wish to consume more than just a tasty, sweet dessert. For a start, this could be achieved using lower levels of coconut oil and sugar and a more frequent use of fruit puree. Food manufacturers should also consider fortifying these desserts with calcium to levels similar to those found in regular dairy ice-cream, namely 10% of the DV per serving [28].

For the pints, the frozen dessert with the lowest level of calories, fat, saturated fat and sugar/serving was the fava bean-based product. For the bars and sandwiches format, those made with almond milk showed the lowest median level for calories and fat, a low level of saturated fat and the highest median level of protein and fiber.

Finally, in addition to the various nutritional differences between dairy ice-cream and a plant-based alternative, the selection of a non-dairy frozen dessert would be considered a favorable step to lowering greenhouse gas emissions, as well as lowering land and water use, thereby impacting human-induced climate change favorably [41,42].

The strength of this study is that this is the first reported comprehensive and detailed nutritional analysis of non-dairy frozen desserts available in the US. A limitation of this study is that the data reported here represents just a window on the marketplace for non- dairy frozen desserts in early 2022. Products are being discontinued and new ones are being introduced all the time. Furthermore, the nutritional composition of the desserts was determined only from the nutrition label provided by the manufacturer and no chemical analyses were performed. If an inconsistency was found in the data between the manufacturer’s web site nutritional label information and the information as it appears on the container found in the supermarket, the authors utilized the latter.