Alex94131

I was wrong about heavy cream being the main ingredient in real gelato: apparently, the real stuff is made from whole milk (4-5% butterfat), sometimes with cream added. I stand by the rest of my comments, however, and maintain that nonfat milk is not a legitimate basis for anything labeled as "gelato."

As others noted, this is not gelato. I failed to read the ingredient list before buying a tub (hey, it was cheap) but if I had, I would have noticed that the first ingredient was "rehydrated nonfat milk" and the second ingredient was "rehydrated whey." Mmmm, how appetizing. "Cream" is way down in the #4 position. Adding to the lack of richness from the ingredients, this also has a very light texture, probably because it's got air pumped into it. Gelato is made with heavy cream as the main ingredient and has little to no air pumped into it; that is what gives real gelato that rich, creamy, dense texture. The label on this stuff directs you to leave it out at room temperature for 10 minutes before serving, apparently in an attempt to make it a little more like the real thing.

As a further insult, the vanilla flavor doesn't taste very much like real vanilla at all, and in fact the word "vanilla" does not even appear in the ingredient list. Can they even call it "vanilla"? Alert the FDA food-labeling regulators.

Apparently some folks like this stuff regardless, but I question whether they've ever had real gelato. If you like this stuff for what it is -- ice milk, as someone else accurately said -- then fine, but TJ's shouldn't call it "gelato." I'm going to let mine sit out at room temperature for an hour or two and pour the rest down the sink.