Whipping Cream vs. Cool Whip

Cinzia Cuneo 10 luglio, 2009 latticini

Hi Cinzia!

From a nutritional point of view, is it more healthy to use real whipped cream or products like Cool Whip® or Nutri Whip® in recipes?

Thank you!
Stephanie

Hi Stephanie,

In order to determine the nutritional value of a product, it is imperative you look at two things: the nutrition facts table and the list of ingredients.

We compared Ultra’crème‘s® whipping cream to Cool Whip®. The first thing that we noticed is that the whipping cream contains more fat. In fact, when comparing the same quantity, the whipping cream contains almost 2 times more saturated fat than Cool Whip®. But, Cool Whip® (and other similar whipped toppings) have a lot more sugar than whipping cream.

Whipping cream “only” has 7 ingredients – with cream and milk as the first two listed. Whereas the first three ingredients listed for Cool Whip® are water, corn syrup and hydrogenated vegetable oil (translation: trans fats!) from a list of 10 ingredients in total. With the effects of trans fat on the cardiovascular system now common knowledge – it is better to avoid it at all costs.

Our conclusion? If you’re not a calorie-counter and aren’t concerned by the amount of fat you consume, it is better to opt for the natural stuff: whipping cream. It tastes better and has more natural ingredients than products like Cool Whip® (plus, you can exercise your arm by whipping it up by hand!). We think this is a better choice – in moderation, of course!

To simplify the comparison, consult the following table. We compare the nutritional values of 15ml of whipping cream vs 15ml of Cool Whip®.

Autori

Cinzia Cuneo

Italiana di nascita e canadese d'adozione, Cinzia ha deciso di coniugare le sue competenze professionali e la sua passione per la buona tavola sviluppando un servizio per aiutare i numerosi «aventi bisogno» a riprendere il controllo della loro alimentazione. Così è nata SOSCuisine. Ingegnere di formazione al Politecnico di Torino, Cinzia ha conseguito un Master's Degree in scienze applicate all'École Polytechnique de Montréal.