(source: kroger.com)
I was very excited the other day at Kroger to discover lactose-free ice cream, and even more excited when I saw this flavor, which I really like. I've never had Kroger brand before, but I was hopeful for no lactose and a great flavor!
The first thing I noticed upon opening the container was that it'd been filled with a twin-spouted machine. My son saw that and said the little mounds were nipples. LOL! ;)
I could see a fair amount of chocolate chips once I scraped past the surface, and some cherries (but not as many as there appear to be above). This definitely a very strategically scooped photo!
Excitedly, I dug in and filled my bowl. The first bite made my taste buds dance but I quickly realized that the flavor wasn't as rich as I'd hoped for. I don't know if this was because of the reduced fat and no added sugar factors, if they'd just skimped on the flavoring. It was good but not exceptional. The cherries were nice but also didn't seem to be as flavorful as I would like (but that could've been the cold dampening the flavor). The chocolate flakes, although they tasted okay, were very cheap quality and had both a coarse texture from the cheap chocolate as well as from unmelted sugar grains, reminding me a bit of Mexican chocolate, which I'm not a fan of.
All in all, it was a bit disappointing, so I drizzled some chocolate syrup on it and that helped mask the defects.
I didn't notice the OTHER problem until the next day. You see, I'm not just lactose intolerant - it's severe. It only takes a SMALL amount of lactose to produce loads of gas in my guts, and that's what happened. I was quite uncomfortable the next day! SO, it's is LOW in lactose, but it definitely is NOT free of it.
To be fair, I've tried other brands of lactose-free foods and discovered that they'd skimped on the lactase enzyme.
If you don't have severe lactose intolerance like me, and you don't mind cheap chocolate and a somewhat mild flavor, go ahead and try this. Also, at $2.99 (on sale for $2.50), it's not a bad deal.
Epicureans: don't waste your time.
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