Treating Your Sweet Tooth

Abigail Young Mrs. Spar English III Compare/Contrast Essay (2nd draft) February 22, 2013 Treating Your Sweet Tooth The debate about ice cream versus frozen yogurt (froyo) is spreading like a wildfire. People looking at the differences; what they do not know is how they are also similar. Ice cream and frozen yogurt have both similarities and differences when it comes to their history, ingredients and nutrition. Before ice cream was known as ice cream, many ancient civilizations served mixtures of ice (or snow from the mountains) with juices, milks, spices and fruits.
This became a major delicacy around the world, this delicacy soon became known as sorbet and was eaten by many people who could afford it. Soon after, sorbet became known as ice cream, which was introduced to America by the Quaker colonists who brought their ice cream recipes with them as they immigrated to the United States. After hearing about a delicacy that was similar to ice cream, frozen yogurt was first introduced to England and became more of a sensation. Frozen yogurt also being sweet and creamy but contained less calories.
The northeast, USA was introduced to frozen yogurt in the 1970’s. In the 1980’s is when frozen yogurt really took off, reaching sales of $25 million in 1986. In the early 1990’s, frozen yogurt was 10% of the frozen dessert market. (Wikipedia Encyclopedia) The main ingredient in ice cream is, obviously, cream. Ice cream contains more than 10% milk fat and more then 20% milk solids. Nowadays, one can find low-fat ice creams with half the fat. In addition, ice cream contains sweeteners, emulsifiers, stabilizers, gelatin, high fructose corn syrup, flavorings, water, and air.

Air gives ice cream the volume. Unlike ice cream, frozen yogurt’s main ingredient is yogurt made from milk. So much like ice cream, frozen yogurt also contains milk solids, milk fats, sweeteners, yogurt culture, emulsifiers, stabilizers, gelatin, high fructose corn syrup, flavorings, water, and air. Air, much like ice cream, gives frozen yogurt its volume. In addition, ice crean and frozen yogurt are very similar when it comes to nutrition. Neither of them are very nutritous but are both very satisfying to your sweet tooth.
Although frozen yogurt is lighter in calories and fat, frozen yogurt is not a heathier alternative to ice cream. One needs to be smart with how much ice cream he is eating. Also, one should watch what he is putting on top of his yogurt, making either the ice cream or frozen yogurt less in fat, sugar and calories. Different in many ways, ice cream and frozen yogurt are both, needless to say, delicious. Although different in their history, ingredients and their nutritional value, one does not want to eat a lot of both them. Both are acceptable every once in a while to enjoy.