One tub of Ben and Jerry's ice cream can contain as many calories as ten Coca-Cola cans or three Shake Shack burgers, while a tub of Turkey Hill may have the equivalent salt content to six portions of McDonald's fries.
DailyMail.com went through the calorie, salt and sugar content of more than 200 tubs from popular ice cream brands Ben and Jerry's, Breyers, Blue Bell, Turkey Hill, Halo Top and Haagen Dazs to analyze their contents and compare them to fast food treats.
It revealed that out of the ice creams sold in tubs smaller than a pint, Ben and Jerry's had the flavors with the most calories, salt and sugar.
But overall two of Blue Bell's five-pint tubs were the most calorific and sugar laden, while one of Turkey Hills' three-pint packages contained the most salt.
Each brand sells a whole range of tubs, with some having much lower counts than others. Ice creams with a strawberry or vanilla flavor tended to be at the lower end of the scale for calories, sugar and salt.
Dietitians say ice creams contain a large number of calories because they are made from a mixture of milk, cream and sugar — and must be at least 10 percent milk fat.
They warn that consuming too many calories can lead to obesity, which already affects two in five American adults and raises the risk of type 2 diabetes, heart disease, some cancers and even strokes.
Eating too much sugar can lead to weight gain and tooth decay.
The type of sugars most adults and children in the UK eat too much of are "free sugars", which includes any added to food and drink and sugars in honey, syrup and fruit juice.
But sugar found naturally in milk, fruit and vegetables do not count as free sugars.
Adults are not supposed to have more than 30g of free sugars a day - around seven sugar cubes.
Children aged seven to 10 should have no more than 24g of free sugars (six sugar cubes), while those aged four to six should not have more than 19g (five sugar cubs).
Eating too much sugar can mean consuming too many calories, leading to weight gain.
Being overweight increases the risk of suffering heart disease, type 2 diabetes and some cancers.
Sugar is also one of the main causes of tooth decay.
Health chiefs advise Britons to have no more than a 150ml glass of fruit juice and smoothies per day and limit the amount of foods with high levels of free sugars.
Source: NHS
<!- - ad: https://mads.dailymail.co.uk/v8/us/health/none/article/other/mpu_factbox.html?id=mpu_factbox_1 - ->AdvertisementBen and Jerry's Peanut Butter ice cream was the most calorific one served as a pint, at a total of 1,400 calories — compared to 139 for a can of Coca-Cola.
The most sugar-filled was their Phish Food tub with 112 grams each.
And the most salt-laden was also the Salted Caramel Core at 710 milligrams.
Overall, Blue Bell's five-pint Milk Chocolate ice cream had the most calories out of any of the tubs checked by DailyMail.com — with 2,880 calories.
The most sugar-filled was also a Blue Bell — their five-pint Strawberries and Homemade Vanilla flavor which contained about 372 grams (g).
For comparison, one milk chocolate Hershey bar contains about 24 g of sugar.
The saltiest ice cream was Turkey Hill's three-pint Salted Caramel which had about 1,620 milligrams (mg) of sodium — far above the 260 mg in a medium helping of McDonald's fries.
Dietitian Cindel Gwyn, from Nutrition that Works, previously said: 'Ice cream is a nice treat to curb cravings.
'But the downside is that overconsumption... may eventually result in weight gain, an increase in cholesterol and issues with regulating blood sugar.'
Women are told to consume about 2,400 calories a day, whereas men should have about 3,000.
They should also limit themselves to about 24 grams of sugar daily, and 2,300 milligrams of salt.
Consuming over this amount leaves them at risk of obesity and the associated health risks.
The findings come amid an ongoing obesity crisis in America where the number of children and adults who are overweight continues to rise.
To thrash out a plan to tackle the crisis President Joe Biden is to host a conference on hunger, nutrition and health this September.
The administration has already set itself the goal of ending hunger and increasing healthy eating and physical activity in the U.S. by 2030 so that fewer Americans face diet-related disease.
It is not clear what actions the administration may take, but Biden has called for 'bold' moves to help bring down American waistlines.
In 2020 Unilever — which owns Ben and Jerry's — announced it would no longer market its products to kids in an effort to curb the childhood obesity crisis.
The company said at the time: 'The World Health Organization names childhood obesity as one of the most serious public health issues of the 21st century.
'And it's a key reason why Unilever is committing to new principles on marketing and advertising foods and beverages to children.'
Mississippi is the fattest state in America, with two in five adults obese or morbidly obese, a report revealed Tuesday amid mounting warnings over the country's health.
Telephone surveys of more than 400,000 people nationwide showed the Magnolia state had the highest rates of obesity followed by West Virginia and neighboring Alabama.
At the other end of the scale people in Colorado, Massachusetts and Hawaii were least likely to be obese — with less than a quarter of adults falling into the category.
Experts blamed poor diets, less access to public spaces for exercise and little health insurance coverage in some areas for the obesity crisis — particularly in Mississippi.
The figures are from a report by NiceRx — an online pharmacy — and are based on figures collected by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for the year 2020.
America is the fattest country in the western world with an estimated 40 percent of people — or 138 million — being obese. It is followed by New Zealand (30 percent), Canada (29.4 percent) and Australia (29 percent).
President Joe Biden will reveal his plans for tackling obesity this September, and has already set targets of improving physical activity and reducing diet-related diseases — like type 2 diabetes — nationally.
The above map shows the proportion of people who are obese by state. The top obesity rates were in Mississippi, West Virginia and Alabama - while the lowest rates were in Colorado and Massachusetts. It is from a report by medical drugs provider NiceRx, and based on figures from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
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