What is the difference between the original Ben & Jerry's Heath Bar Crunch and the Vanilla Heath Bar Crunch sold now?

May 27, 2008 5:30 PM

What is the difference between the original Ben & Jerry's Heath Bar Crunch and the Vanilla Heath Bar Crunch sold now?

As I understand it, the original (just plain "Heath Bar Crunch") is in the Flavor Graveyard, while the Vanilla and Coffee variations are still in stores. Wasn't vanilla ice cream part of the now-defunct recipe? I don't remember when they stopped producing it, but I know I was much younger the last time I had any.

posted by mirepoix to Food & Drink (11 answers total)

If I remember correctly from their cookbook, Heath Bar Crunch was made with a sweet cream base - no vanilla.
posted by O9scar at 7:01 PM on May 27, 2008

why don't you buy a pint and find out? i'm seriously not trying to be snarky or anything. take a chance! go for your dreams!
posted by Mach5 at 7:17 PM on May 27, 2008

You could write them and ask; I feel sure they'd respond.
posted by Miko at 7:37 PM on May 27, 2008

I remember the old Heath Bar having a chocolate base - no?
posted by peep at 7:51 PM on May 27, 2008

You could write them and ask; I feel sure they'd respond.

Ben & Jerry's Homemade, Inc.
30 Community Drive
South Burlington, VT 05403-6828

802-846-1500 [between 9:00 and 5:00 EDT - Monday through Friday.]^*
posted by ericb at 7:57 PM on May 27, 2008

Part of the difference is carrageenan, fillers, and so on. Ben and Jerry's led Breyer's down that dark path. Back when I first had the stuff in 1988, it didn't have any of that crap.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 8:08 PM on May 27, 2008

weird seaweed in the Ben & Jerrys.... what is the world coming to? Doesn't anyone just sell ice cream with four ingredients anymore...with none over three syllables?
posted by answergrape at 9:13 PM on May 27, 2008

Answergrape, Haagen-Dazs seems to be the answer to your question, as long as you stick the the basic flavors (chocolate, vanilla, strawberry). For example, here's the ingredient list for their strawberry ice cream: Cream, Strawberries, Skim Milk, Sugar, Egg Yolks.
posted by mogget at 9:44 PM on May 27, 2008

If I remember the description on the carton correctly, Heath Bar was vanilla with the candy. "Sweet cream" would have stood out.
posted by brujita at 10:47 PM on May 27, 2008

I believe that new flavor you're picking up on is the blood of Unilever's Indonesian palm plantation workers - or maybe just the stink of the company's enormous wealth.
posted by serazin at 11:49 PM on May 27, 2008

I'm pretty sure the first response has it. It used to be a sweet cream base, and they started using vanilla instead. I thought the sweet cream base was way better.
posted by Nattie at 2:57 AM on May 28, 2008