Cool Whip, as in whipped cream, right? Reddi whip ingredients milk is only the fifth ingredient in this topping. Cool Whip is summer’s hottest accessory.
And although you ceremoniously grab a tub of this topping before every barbeque, have you ever taken a second to think what exactly this container is full of? Kraft Cool Whip’s first ingredient is water, followed by hydrogenated vegetable oil, high fructose corn syrup, corn syrup, and — finally — skim milk. From its name, you would think that the cream part of this “whipped topping” would appear higher on the list. Alas, Cool Whip is mostly just syrupy oil. In fact, when it first debuted in stores in 1966, Cool Whip was actually a dairy-free product! Kraft only started adding skimmed milk and light cream in 2010.
Opting for the real whipped stuff will actually save you 10 calories, 0. 5 grams of fat and 1 whole gram of saturated fat, as well as 1 gram of sugar. What’s more, you’ll also be consuming a product whose first ingredient is cream — not water — and is free of high fructose corn syrup, hydrogenated oils, and artificial ingredients. That being said, Reddi-wip doesn’t quite hold up to whipping your own heavy cream at home. Reddi-wip contains mono- and diglycerides, which Isabel Smith, MS, RD, CDN, and founder of Isabel Smith Nutrition, tells us are considered to be a class of trans fats that have escaped FDA classification as trans fat, and are therefore not included in the trans fat ban.
Although Kraft is the most common store-bought brand, you should also be checking the ingredients of any generic “whipped” topping out there. And if you need a substitute for Cool Whip, look no further than real whipped cream! No problem: Place a small Mason jar in the freezer for 15 minutes, pull it out, add a cup of heavy cream, a tablespoon of sugar, and shake! Olivia Tarantino is a senior editor of Eat This, Not That!