Do you know the ingredients in fat free half and half?
I’ll admit that I was dubious of the concept of fat free half and half from the get go. Isn’t half and half supposed to be half milk and half cream? So how can it be fat free?
As the harried mother of young children working full-time outside my home, I had little time or inclination to read food labels while grocery shopping. But times have changed. For a variety of reasons, I pay more attention to what is in the cartons and cans these days.
Dairy products are a special source of interest to the ingredient detective in me. First it was cream. What is the difference between heavy cream and whipping cream? Is it just a matter of semantics or do they actually contain different ingredients?
As I learned, the answer is not cut-and-dried. But in general, whipping cream has other ingredients (besides heavy cream)that act as thickeners and stabilizers. One such common added ingredient is carrageenan, an extract from edible seaweed. While carrageenan is considered generally safe by the FDA, there are scientists who that it may be cause or aggravate intestinal problems.
Now it is half and half. Last week, I came upon a recipe that called for half and half. When I’m being “good,” I try to lighten up the calories and/or fat. So I glanced at the fat free half and half on the grocery shelf, considering whether to substitute it for the “real” thing that sat next to it on the grocery shelf.
And that began my journey down this rabbit hole.
As I discovered, “regular” half and half has 30-40 calories and 3 – 3.5 grams of fat per 2 tablespoon serving. On the other hand, fat free half and half has 20 calories and 0 grams of fat. So far the the fat free version is looking pretty good. But wait. Calories and fat counts are only half the story. The other half (pardon the pun) is the ingredient list.
I checked the “regular” half and half ingredient lists from three brands that have a fat free version as well: Darigold, Hood and Land ‘O Lakes. In addition I checked Organic Valley’s half and half, even though that company does not make a fat free version. Hood and Organic Valley list only milk and cream as ingredients in their half and half. Besides milk and cream, Darigold and Land ‘O Lakes list disodium phosphate to keep the cream from separating in hot liquids. Land ‘O Lakes “regular” also contains a preservative called sodium citrate.
What are the ingredients in fat free half and half?
In all three fat free versions – Darigold, Hood and Land ‘O Lakes – the first listed ingredient is skim milk. For two out of the three, the next ingredient is corn syrup. (In Darigold, regular milk is listed second and corn syrup third.) All three list carrageenan and color. Land ‘O Lakes lists the color as simply that, while the other two list it as “artificial color,” They also list various other chemicals. Those chemicals include Vitamin A Palmitate, a synthetic vitamin with a stabilizer that replaces the natural Vitamin A lost in the process of making the milk nonfat.
In other words, when they take the fat out of half and half, they replace it with corn syrup and chemicals. Fat free half and half = skim milk + corn syrup + color + chemicals.
Can someone explain to me how that concoction, which doesn’t contain half of anything, let alone half of one ingredient and another half of a second, gets to keep the name half and half?
Maybe the fat free half and half looks creamy when it pours out of the container. And it may have a “mouthfeel” that closely resembles the real stuff. But do you really want to use it in place of regular/real half and half just to save a few calories and a couple of grams of fat now that you know the ingredients in fat free half and half?
Kristen Chidsey says
Well, I can attest to you that I can NOT eat anything with Carrageen in it–I will bleed intestinally and be miserable for weeks. So FDA approved or not–give me fat over preservatives!
Laura says
Kristen, You’re not the first person to tell me that. And scientists who research food additives seem to be increasingly skeptical of carrageenan – even though it is natural.
Tom MacFarlane says
Just put a lot of unsalted butter in black coffee , taste creamier more healthy for you
Laura says
Interesting way to add fat to coffee. Thanks.
Brenda B Williams says
I thought I was doing something c good for my body too. Since I started putting FF HH I have been pooping 3 times a day.
Michael Sisson says
We bought the fat free half and half by mistake…..I tried it in my coffee and had to pour it out…..it is some nasty tasting stuff. Poured it down the drain.
Alice says
Can someone tell me what the white precipitate is in fat free half and half? Before use, if you let FF H&H sit, it will settle into a thin top layer and a thicker bottom layer. When you use FF H&H, there is a white precipitate left in the bottom of the coffee cup. What is that? It must be some nasty stuff; I have to hand was my cups because the dishwasher won’t get it all out once it dries. And this is a brand new dishwasher!
Laura says
I have no idea what it is, but I guess I’m not surprised that there is some nasty stuff in fat free half and half.
John says
Use natural and whole milk. There is no problem with that rather than using some processed nasty stuff that we as consumers are always deceived over and over. When all hell breaks loose , the max that happens is that the company is fined a ludicrously small amount and FDA lets them off the hook just so that they can kill us slowly with new products.There are lots of precincts to this ( the case against Dupont where they were fined only 14 million for willfully concealing the fact the Teflon was not safe and it’s carcinognic ( that same year Dupont had a revenue of $30 Billion).
Isora says
I sort of “make my own” Low Fat half and half.
I was using 5 TBS of regular 1/2 and 1/2 in one cup of coffee.
I now mix 2.5 TBS of regular half and half and 2 1/2 TBS of 2% milk. The fat from the 2% milk is negligible in 2.5 TBS. Works great to reduce the fat and no fake anything.
I mix one cup of each in a bottle so I don’t have to measure each, every time I drink coffee. I only drink 2 cups of coffee/day, so this works for me.
Laura says
Isora – that sounds like a great way to have half-and-half with only half the fat. My “beef” is with the stuff they sell as lowfat, but I’d be happy with yours.
Jen says
Great idea!! Thanks!!
Jeanine says
Thanks! I just tried your suggestion with the skim milk I had on hand. It’s nice. I found low fat half and half but it has a chalky taste so thanks for this. Next go round I may even get a little crazy and mix my skim milk with some heavy cream! Maybe 2/3 skim milk to 1/3 cream?
Laura says
Glad my suggestion helped. Your plan sounds good.
Daphne says
Have you noticed the typo? “And that began my journey down this rabbi [sic] hole.”
Laura says
Daphne – Haha – you’re so right! That’s hysterical. Fixed now, thanks to you.
Craig says
Thanks! You’re post was insightful!
Robert says
The sugar industry wins again! Substituting corn syrup for fat. There is much evidence mow that sugars are more harmful (and fattening) than fat, counter-intuitive as that may seem).
Steven Spiegel says
Thank you for the research and review. Good to know.
Laura says
Steven, Glad you find it useful. Hope to see you around here again soon.
Linda J Winkler says
I agree – how can they get away with calling that crap “half and half?”
I only became aware of it by accidentally buying it, never realizing such a stupid thing existed. Now I have a new thing to have to watch out for.
Dorine says
So it’s healthier to use whole milk in your coffee, than to use fat free half and half?? Fat vs corn syrup and chemicals??
Laura says
Dorine, It’s certainly up to you to decide which is healthier. I only provide facts that I found interesting.
Keen says
No. Using full fat dairy is never a good choice, ever.
Laura says
I disagree. But to each his/her/their own.
Bill Chaffee says
My opinion of land o lakes changed for worse when I saw the fake half and half. Are there any complaints about mislabeling?
Yamina says
Skim plus makes an excellent-tasting fat free half & half.
Ingredients are fat-free milk, cream, vitamin A, palmitate, and vitamin D3. Thoughts?
Laura says
Yamina, I’ve never tasted Skim Plus half and half. I did look it up however and it seems legit. I will admit a preference for full fat, for the taste, but I can’t fault people who reduce3 the fat in their diet, even if it sacrifices taste:)
Susan says
Okie Dokie, now I shall toss what’s left in my carton of Fat Free H&H! I’m usually hyper crazy about reading food label ingredients, and 9 times out of 10, I end up putting a food item back on the shelf. I’ve seen the FF HH for some time, and had the same curiosity about it as you. HOW is FF HH even possible, I asked myself?? Well, last week, I broke down and bought a carton, and the ingredient police inside me must’ve been sound asleep, bc I didn’t take the time to read what comprised this product…completely unusual for me! So, today while preparing my morning Java, my curiosity was aroused, and I googled FF HH, and found your critique. I wanted to slap myself for buying this junk, or more to the point for being that foolish. A few years ago, I learned I had to start watching my cholesterol…something I’d never had to do. I’m thin, fit, and always eat healthy, so that was an eye opener. From that point on, I started watching my fat (esp saturated) intake, as well as triglycerides. I read labels even more religiously when grocery shopping, so how I failed epically with this FF HH, still has me baffled. Anyway, I poured the rest down the drain; I only drink FF milk, and will return to using it again in my coffee. I’m sure pure H&H would taste better, but I’d rather save my real fat allowance for other foods I enjoy more, than what I put in my coffee. Thank you for sharing what you learned about FF HH; I’ve always prided myself on reading food labels, and avoiding foods that contain unnecessary chemicals, and added preservatives that can be hazardous to my health.
Laura says
Susan, I’ve never been a fan of half & half in coffee and I rarely see it in recipes, so it wasn’t difficult for me to imagine not using it. Sorry if my research caused you culinary pain, but glad we’re on the same page in terms of reading labels and doing what seems right in terms of using foods with unnecessary chemical additives. I’ve been using Fat Free milk for a long time in coffee and don’t notice the lack of fat, though I’ll admit that my every-once-in-a-blue-moon scoop of whipped cream in coffee is lovely.
Susan says
I left a comment yesterday; I filled out the required fields, but it didn’t get published. Can you tell me what happened? Thank you.
Laura says
Susan, I just answered your first comment. Because I get so much spam, I’ve set my blog comments so that they are not published until I review them. Thanks for stopping by and hope you’ll continue to check out the blog.
Susan says
Laura, thank you for getting back to me; your research didn’t cause “culinary pain”; it was an eye opener, very well-researched, and helpful. Every now and then, I get a little trigger happy with a can of light whipped cream to top off my morning brew. And, I concur; it IS lovely.
Aenne says
Trying to eat healthily is a wonderful thing, but good grief, EVERYTHING in life seems to want to kill us. The real fat in real half and half isn’t any better for you than is the small amount of corn syrup, etc. that goes into your coffee every morning. I use fat free, sometimes treat myself to REAL cream in my coffee (YUM!) but all of this in moderation.
Arlene says
I usually drink 1-2 cups of coffee a day but now that I just got a cold brew coffee pitcher, I see myself taking 36 ounces of cold brew iced coffee to work and will definitely be increasing my half and half use. So the thought of fat free half and half crossed my mind. I know I used to use it years past. I’m so happy I immediately came upon this post that was written years ago that let me decide a hard no to FF. I read so much that coffee is healthy but the cream not so much. I’ll continue to use it but hope to transition to coconut cream because of its fantastically healthy MCT.
sound of text says
Interesting to learn that Fat Free Half and Half contains only 2 ingredients! I’ll have to marked this as a must-try for my next cooking session. Thanks for sharing!
Nancy says
I ran across this when I was looking up fat free half and half. The other day, I bought some by accident. When I put it in my coffee the color of my coffee looked like mud instead of the pretty caramel color I am used to. I thought the coffee must have been strong so I didn’t think much about it. The taste also seemed off. The next day the same problem. Since I had bought a different brand, I decided to look at the carton and in smaller print noticed the words fat free. My first thought was how is there such a thing as fat free half and half? Cream is part of the half and that is anything but fat free. Very confusing. Then I checked the ingredients. First two were skim milk and corn syrup solids along with a long list of other toxic goodies. So is it half skim milk and half corn syrup solids? What an awful concept! Fat free just isn’t something that you think of when buying half and half. It’s getting harder and harder to find quality “real” food anymore. No wonder we have so many health issues!