Question: Does Coffee Ice Cream Have Caffeine?
Answer: Almost 55 percent of Americans over 18 years old drink coffee daily. That is a lot of coffee considering the current population is estimated to be over 334,000,000.
One of the main reasons coffee is enjoyed in the U.S. and around the world is because of its caffeine content. A cup of coffee (8 fl oz) has about 95 milligrams of caffeine. As a comparison, a Coca-Cola of the same size has approximately 23 milligrams of caffeine. In other words, coffee generally contains a lot of caffeine.
Many people likely associate coffee with a mug and maybe some cream and/or sugar. However, one of many popular flavors of ice cream is coffee. This makes sense considering the popularity of coffee.
You might think that coffee ice cream is a relatively recent invention, but it actually dates back to at least mid-1700’s France. There, they wisely paired coffee with the creaminess of ice cream and it has been enjoyed ever since.
When it comes to the caffeine in this type of ice cream, most coffee ice cream brands do have some caffeine. However, the caffeine content is not nearly equivalent to that of a cup of coffee.
Caffeine In Coffee Ice Cream
We took a look at a selection of coffee ice cream products to determine their caffeine content. Here is what we found:
Turkey Hill – Columbian Coffee: 15mg per 2/3 cup
Straus Organic: decaffeinated freeze dried coffee used
Rebel Coffee Chip – 30 mg per 2/3 Cup
Haagen-Dazs – Coffee Ice Cream: – 29 mg per 2/3 cup
Source: Center For Science In The Public Interest & company websites .
There are many additional coffee ice cream products on the market, however, the manufacturers do not readily provide the caffeine content. This is likely because the FDA does not mandate the disclosure of caffeine when its naturally occurring. It’s only required for added caffeine.
The FDA states. “The Nutrition Facts Panel on food labels is required to include recommended dietary information for nutrients. Caffeine is not a nutrient. It is a natural chemical found in such items as tea leaves, coffee beans, and cacao (used to make chocolate). If caffeine is added to a food, it must be included in the listing of ingredients required on food product labels. Caffeine is generally recognized as safe when used in cola-type beverages up to a level of 0.02 percent or 200 parts per million.”
While the caffeine content may not be required to be disclosed, why not just disclose it for transparency purposes if you are a manufacturer. Based on our research, there is a demand for the information. We hope to provide more information on the caffeine in coffee ice cream as is becomes available.
