There's nothing as satisfying as a cool ice-cream or ice-lolly on a hot day, but you may be surprised to learn just how much sugar is in some of your favourite iced treats.
Website Play Like Mum has just revealed the Summer Treats Index, which tells you which ice lollies and ice creams have the most and least calories, fat and sugar and the results are shocking.
We all know how incredibly tasty Magnum ice cream's are, but did you know some of them contain seven teaspoons of sugar, yes seven!
Here's the worst offenders when it comes to sugar content:
| Ice Lolly/Ice Cream | Sugar (g) | Sugar (tsp.) |
| Magnum Salted Caramel | 27 | 7 |
| Magnum Almond | 24 | 6 |
| Magnum Double Caramel | 24 | 6 |
| Lotus Biscoff Ice Cream Sticks | 23 | 6 |
| Magnum White | 23 | 6 |
The good news is Magnum also do a no added sugar variety which are very low in sugar as well as Ms Molly's which are also a good low sugar choice.
| Ice Lolly/Ice Cream | Sugar (g) | Sugar (tsp.) |
| Magnum No Added Sugar Vanilla Caramel | 3.2 | 1 |
| Magnum No Added Sugar Forest Fruits | 3.4 | 1 |
| Nice by Nature Mango & Banana Lolly | 4.6 | 1 |
| Ms Molly’s Fruit Lolly | 5.2 | 1 |
| Ms Molly’s Milk Lolly | 5.7 | 1 |
When it comes to the unhealthiest ice-creams overall, popular Lotus Biscoff Ice cream sticks are top of that list, with 21g of fat and 312 calories per ice cream.
The five unhealthiest ice creams:
| Ice Cream | Serving Size (ml) | Calories (kcal) | Fat (g) | Saturated Fat (g) | Salt (g) | Sugar (g) | Sugar (tsp.) |
| Lotus Biscoff Ice Cream Sticks | 90 | 312 | 21 | 9.2 | 0.26 | 23 | 6 |
| Nestlé Maxibon | 140 | 309 | 16.7 | 12.4 | 0.17 | 22.8 | 6 |
| Magnum Salted Caramel | 100 | 308 | 19 | 9.8 | 0.47 | 27 | 7 |
| Häagen-Dazs Peanut Butter Crunch | 80 | 278 | 20.9 | 9.9 | 0.16 | 12.9 | 3 |
| Magnum Almond | 100 | 272 | 17 | 11 | 0.12 | 24 | 6 |
Naturopathic Nutrition Coach, Jessica Chand explains whether sweet treats with fewer calories are the healthiest option: "No not necessarily as not all calories are equal so It’s best to look for natural ice lollies or ice creams made with good quality natural and ‘real’ ingredients. Generally the fewer ingredients on the packet the better.
"Look out for ingredients you have heard of and can read and try to avoid opting for ice lollies with unnecessary additives and high sugar content.
"The majority of mainstream ice lollies generally will be very high in sugar but there are some brands on the market offering natural alternatives - or you could make your own with Greek yogurt and fresh fruit this way you can ensure you are eating a nutritious and delicious ice lolly without the unhealthy hidden sugars and additives!"
You can view the research which looks at 65 ice creams and ice lollies to reveal their calorie count, grams of fat, grams of salt and teaspoons of sugar by following this link.
