Frozen novelties: the DoveBar's revenge.

Frozen Novelties: The DoveBar's Revenge

Blame it on the DoveBar. Before 1985, frozen desserts sold in individual portions were the domain of children. When's the last time you had a Popsicle or Dixie Cup?

But the DoveBar changed all that. The premium-ice-cream-dipped-in-chocolate was clearly not for kids. Its size and its price (a dollar a Dove) meant that this was one serious snack.

The DoveBar begat high-fat bars by Haagen Dazs, Nestle, and Klondike, and the "frozen novelties" market was off and running. Sales jumped from $1.6 billion in 1986 to $2.5 billion last year.

FROZEN & FRUITY

The Mexicans have a sweet, fruit-chunk-on-a-stick snack called a paleta. In 1979, Bill O'Brien took a paleta, cut back on the sugar, and added flavors like strawberry and peach to the traditional mango and papaya.

His company, FrozFruit, chugged along until the mid-1980s, when fruit giants Dole and Chiquita decided that the frozen-novelty market was ripe for a low-calorie, "natural" snack. They got into the act, and everyone's sales soared.

Fruit bars all have one thing in common: two to four teaspoons of added sugar. They're practically fat-free, though, with one gram or less per bar (if they haven't been dipped in chocolate).

Look for bars with 15 percent or more of the USRDA for vitamin C (that's the way it will be listed on the label). The more C, the more fruit (unless, of course, the C comes from added ascorbic acid). Fruit, fruit puree, or fruit chunks should be the first or second ingredient listed.

(If "apple juice from concentrate" or "grape juice from concentrate" appears high on the ingredient list, chances are the bar is mostly cheap concentrate, with a few drops of some other juice added to justify the flavor that's in big print on the label.)

Try Shamitoff's Fruit Bars, which average 55 percent fruit, or FrozFruits, which average 50 percent.

If you like fruit-flavored ice cream, give Dole's or Shamitoff's Cream Bars or FrozFruit Yogurt Bars a shot. The yogurt bars are fat-free and most of the cream bars, despite their names, have as little as a third of a teaspoon (1-1/2 grams) of fat.

(FrozFruit Bars with cream have 1 to 1-1/2 teaspoons--4 to 6 grams--of fat, but that's still less than just about any ice-cream snack. The word "cream" doesn't appear in the name, but only in the ingredient list.)

IT'S OUT OF THE BAGSICLE

For years, manufacturers have been peddling a frozen mixture of sugar, water, and artificial flavorings and colorings to kids.

Today, they add vitamin C to these Disney Pops, Kool-Aid Kool Pops, etc. and try to pass them off as nutritious. But few parents would feed their children four teaspoons of sugar just to get them to eat some vitamin C.

TURN OUT THE LITES

Two out of every four frozen novelties sold contain ice cream or ice milk.

But unless you go for the Chocolate Treat, Double Fudge, or Vanilla Sandwiches that are made by Weight Watchers, or a saccharin-sweetened bar for dieters, you're going to end up with a lot of fat.

Most snacks made with regular ice cream have at least two teaspoons of fat, while premium bars by Haagen Dazs or Nestle could have as many as six. Snacks made with ice milk should be lower, but most manufacturers dip them in chocolate or find some other way to fatten them up.

Not surprisingly, no products made with ice cream--and only two made with ice milk (Weight Watchers Chocolate Treat and Vanilla Sandwich)--qualified for a Best Bite. Interestingly, neither has the word "lite" in its name.

Klondike Lites may have less than half the fat of Klondike regulars, but that's largely because they're half the size. And don't be swayed by the "97 percent fat-free" claim on the package. It only applies to the ice-cream-like inside, and not the whole, chocolate-covered bar.

DoveLights, on the other hand, do have forty percent less fat and one-third fewer calories than regular DoveBars (which are the same size). But they still have almost three teaspoons of grease per bar.

TROPICAL BON BONS

Coconut oil may have disappeared from grocery store shelves, but it's alive and well in the freezer section. Carnation Bon Bons, Klondikes, DoveBars, Eskimo Pies, Nestle's Crunch, and Jell-O Pudding Pops all contain it.

Carnation says it uses the cholesterol-raising oil because "it gives the product a better flavor and it prevents the Bon Bons from melting together on a warm car ride home."

We'll take melted Bon Bons over clogged arteries any day.