It took me a while, but I’ve worked my way through all six flavors of Brio! Twice. (The exclamation point is part of the name, but eating twelve single-serving cups of ice cream is also pretty exciting).

The verdict: Brio(!) is good, and my favorite flavor is strawberry. 

Let’s talk about why this is important.

Brio(!) sent me a twelve pack of samples to try and report back on. The gimmick is that it’s supposed to be better for you than ice cream, because it has less fat and calories, and good-for-you things like probiotics and antioxidants, and is made with GMO-free organic milk, has all the good Omegas, and is certified gluten-free.

Let’s compare to Brio to two of the other super premium ice cream brands, Haagen Dazs, and Ben & Jerry’s. We’ll take a look at Vanilla for all three. A serving size is a half cup, and the Haagen Dazs and Ben & Jerry’s at 250 calories, while Brio gives you 150. The super premiums have 10 grams of saturated fat (50% DV) while Brio has 3 grams (13% DV). Brio is also higher in protein, clocking in at six grams to their four. It’s also fortified, with a breakfast cereal’s laundry list of vitamins and minerals, while the nutritional panel for the other ice creams is virtually blank, so the big point here is that yes, there are calories, yes, there is sugar (14 grams, or just under two teaspoons of sugar per serving less than the super premiums) but the primary theme here is there is less bad and more good.

One detractor might be that Brio is best eaten quickly, for it seems to be chock full of emulsifiers that seem to give it a gumminess of an almost unnatural quality, although those same emulsifiers help ensure it’s never pulled from the freezer rock solid and impenetrable by a spoon.

We tried several applications: in a root beer float, sandwiched between two cookies, over pie, and they were all just lovely.

Brio is available at most major grocery retailers.

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