Is ice cream a useful source of calcium?

Ice cream contains a small amount of calcium but not as much as other dairy foods such as milk, cheese and yoghurt.

Last updated 17/01/2024

A scoop of vanilla ice cream contains 23mg of calcium, which is much less compared to other nutritious dairy foods such as milk, which contains between 268 and 303mg per 250ml cup (depending on milk type), or a 200g tub of plain yoghurt which contains 371mg of calcium.1

Milk, cheese and yoghurt belong to one of the five food groups recommended every day in the Australian Dietary Guidelines.2 These types of dairy foods are rich in nutrients and contain a much higher amount of calcium compared to ice cream. Ice cream is classified as a 'discretionary food' in the Australian Dietary Guidelines, meaning we should limit our intake as it can be high in energy and low in essential nutrients.

So whilst ice cream provides a small amount of calcium, it is best to focus on eating milk, cheese and yoghurt as convenient food sources of calcium in your daily diet.

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