Have ice cream vans always served muck?
Have ice cream vans always served muck?
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Discussion

3din

Original Poster:

27 posts

3 months

I remember getting 99's frequently as a child, though i've rarely had anything from an ice cream van since leaving school. In fact I can't remember the last time I did. It's easily been 10+ years. Except I had one last weekend. And I found it left me wanting. For £5 I expected more, but I believe it was the lowest quality substance that could be passed off as 'ice cream' as possible. I don't even think it had any dairy in it. Has it always been like this or am I reminiscing about a past that never was?

Mr Penguin

4,577 posts

67 months

I haven't noticed a difference in quality, only in price.

Ezra

898 posts

55 months

You talking about the Mr Whippy type stuff that looks like a pile of albino dog st? Try waiting for it to melt (takes an age, cos its NOT ice cream) then taste it - its absolutely foul. I think this stuff has always been grim.

I do recall the bloke in the ice-cream van coming around when I was young. A proper scoop of ice cream from a tub, in a cornet, with a flake and strawberry juice - that was lovely, but I can't remember seeing something like that from a van in the UK for ages.

3din

Original Poster:

27 posts

3 months

Ezra said:
You talking about the Mr Whippy type stuff that looks like a pile of albino dog st? Try waiting for it to melt (takes an age, cos its NOT ice cream) then taste it - its absolutely foul. I think this stuff has always been grim.

I do recall the bloke in the ice-cream van coming around when I was young. A proper scoop of ice cream from a tub, in a cornet, with a flake and strawberry juice - that was lovely, but I can't remember seeing something like that from a van in the UK for ages.
Mr Whippy is exactly what i'm talking about. I remember them melting when I was a kid. This one didn't melt at all. It definitely wasn't ice cream.

LRDefender

735 posts

36 months

Yes, it’s always been terrible.

Ezra

898 posts

55 months

3din said:
This one didn't melt at all. It definitely wasn't ice cream.
Christ, where are we heading with food...ice cream thats not, chocolate thats not....

simon_harris

3,021 posts

62 months

palm oil is probably the answer

Bluevanman

10,025 posts

221 months

Yes, I had a Mr Whippy recently and it was tasteless,it wasn't £5,more like £3.50, but it put me off buying from a van in the future

Frimley111R

19,062 posts

262 months

Ezra said:
3din said:
This one didn't melt at all. It definitely wasn't ice cream.
Christ, where are we heading with food...ice cream thats not, chocolate thats not....
It's dire. I've seen enough Cadburys palm oil videos online to be put off for life.

simon_harris

3,021 posts

62 months

according to AI the answer is yes, palm or vegetable oil is being used as a substitute for the dairy element

bigpriest

2,501 posts

158 months

Ah, the smell of ice cream and idling diesel. The Whippy stuff was OK - especially a vanilla and strawberry combo but the best ice cream was always scraped from a tub with that metal spoon that was then dipped in some manky water, ready for the next customer.

3din

Original Poster:

27 posts

3 months

simon_harris said:
palm oil is probably the answer
Every cheap ice cream is made with oil of some sort. I don't know why they are allowed to call it ice cream.

Jonnny

29,891 posts

217 months

'Our' ice cream man does a decent Mr Whippy tbf.

£2.50, big old pull on the machine - Cadbury Flake in it.

He did say some vans use cheap horrible mixture, and cheap flakes. He prides himself on the decent stuff, even if it costs a bit more.

Mobile Chicane

21,962 posts

240 months

https://www.unileverfoodsolutions.co.uk/product/mr...

Ingredients
Reconstituted skimmed MILK, sugar, coconut fat, skimmed MILK powder, glucose syrup, emulsifier (mono- and di-glycerides of fatty acids), stabilisers (locust bean gum, guar gum, carrageenan), flavourings.

yuck

Rebew

372 posts

120 months

Not all whippy is equal. A friend of mine took over an ice cream kiosk on the beach and swapped the whippy machine/supplier from the generic cheap ste to proper farm sourced whippy. The difference is night and day.

The ice cream van in the OP will be using the cheap stuff that is full of chemicals and barely any dairy. As with all things, in a race to the bottom nobody wins.

PhilAsia

7,533 posts

103 months

simon_harris said:
all over the palm oil is probably the answer
FTFY biggrin