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12 Cream & Sour Cream Brands in Australia to AVOID: Only 4 Are Actually Real Cream — Transcript

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0:00Right now, in the cream fridge at
0:02Woolworths, there's a can with the words
0:04whipped cream printed on the front, and
0:06cream isn't the first ingredient.
0:08According to the ingredient list on the
0:10Woolworths website, the first ingredient
0:12is skimmed milk concentrate. Cream comes
0:16second at just 40%. Then liquid sugar, a
0:19propellant gas, an emulsifier, a
0:21vegetable gum, and a flavoring. That's
0:23what's sitting under the word cream. And
0:25that can is not alone. Walk the cream
0:28section at Coles, Woolworths, Aldi, or
0:30your local IGA, and you'll find a
0:32thickened cream made with beef gelatin.
0:35A sour cream where the first ingredient
0:37is skim milk, a premium sour cream
0:40that's watered down with skim milk and
0:42set with gelatin, a cooking cream with
0:44five different additives, a so-called
0:46cream that has never been anywhere near
0:48a cow, imported from Germany and made
0:50from lentils and coconut oil, and a
0:52little tin that sits in the baking aisle
0:54for months without a fridge. Here's what
0:56most shoppers never hear.
0:58In Australia, the word cream has a legal
1:00meaning. Under standard 2.5.2 of the
1:03Australian New Zealand Food Standards
1:05Code, cream is defined as a milk product
1:08that's comparatively rich in fat, an
1:10emulsion of fat in skim milk separated
1:13from milk, and a food sold as cream must
1:15contain no less than 350 g of milk fat
1:19per kilo. That's 35%. That's the floor.
1:22Pour real cream out of a carton, and
1:23that's what you should be getting. Fat
1:25separated from fresh milk and nothing
1:27else. But read the rest of the cream
1:29fridge, and you'll see how much room
1:31there is around that rule. The moment a
1:33company adds a word in front, light,
1:35light, reduced, cooking, thickened,
1:38dollop, the product doesn't have to look
1:40anything like that definition anymore.
1:42Light versions consider around 18% fat.
1:45Thickened cream can carry gelatin,
1:47seaweed extracts, gums, and emulsifiers.
1:50And sour cream, the stuff you put on
1:52your nachos and your baked potatoes, is
1:54a different story again because some of
1:56the tubs we're about to look at are
1:58built on skim milk, starch, and gelatin
2:00with cream playing a supporting role.
2:03And this matters right now more than
2:04ever. In April 2026, Coles lifted the
2:07price of its home brand milk by up to 20
2:10cents a liter saying it was passing on
2:12the rising costs of fuel, fertilizer,
2:15and packaging in its dairy supply chain
2:17as the conflict in the Middle East
2:18pushed diesel and fertilizer prices up.
2:21Dairy is getting more expensive at the
2:23farm gate and at the checkout. So, when
2:25you're paying cream prices, you deserve
2:27to get cream. Not skim milk, not water,
2:30not seaweed, not air. And who's actually
2:32behind all these cartons? The cream
2:35fridge looks like it's full of
2:36independent brands. It isn't. Paul's
2:38belongs to the French giant Lactalis.
2:40Dairy Farmers and Pura belong to Bega,
2:42which bought them when it took over
2:44Lion's dairy and drinks business in
2:462021. Nestlé is Swiss. Flora belongs to
2:49a company owned by American private
2:51equity. And then there are other
2:52supermarkets' own labels made for Coles
2:54and Woolworths and sold right next to
2:56the brands they compete with. So, when
2:58you think you're choosing between a
3:00dozen dairies, you're often choosing
3:01between a handful of corporations. So,
3:04we went through the creams and sour
3:06creams sitting in Australian fridges
3:08right now, read the current labels line
3:10by line, check the fat, the additives,
3:13the claims, and the owners, and ranked
3:15the 12 you should think twice about from
3:17the least bad to the worst. Then I'll
3:19show you the four that are actually real
3:21cream, how to spot them in 10 seconds,
3:24and how to make your own sour cream at
3:25home for a fraction of the price. But
3:28before we get into it, if you care about
3:29what's really in your food and you're
3:31tired of the lack of transparency, hit
3:33the like button and especially the hype
3:34button right now.
3:36Every hype helps this video reach more
3:38people who deserve to know what's really
3:39going on behind many products and major
3:42corporations. Share this video with your
3:44friends and family. The more people see
3:46it, the harder it becomes to keep the
3:48truth hidden.
3:49Let's open the fridge. Number 12, Bulla
3:52Thickened Cream.
3:54We're starting gently because Bulla is
3:56an Australian family-owned company with
3:58more than a century of history. And this
4:00carton isn't a scandal. It's just a
4:02perfect example of the trick that runs
4:05through this whole section of the
4:06fridge. According to the Woolworths
4:08listing, the ingredients are fresh
4:10cream, then thickeners, carrageenan and
4:12guar gum. Fat sits at 35.6 g per 100 ml,
4:17so it clears the
4:18legal floor. The cream is real. The
4:21question is why the thickeners are there
4:23at all. Here's the thing, cream with 35%
4:25fat already whips. It already pours. It
4:28already thickens a sauce.
4:30That's what fat does. Thickeners are
4:32added so the cream whips faster, holds
4:34its shape longer on a pavlova, and looks
4:36more consistent from one carton to the
4:38next. That's convenient for a factory,
4:40but it means part of the texture comes
4:42from seaweed and a bean gum, not the
4:44cream. Carrageenan is extracted from red
4:46seaweed. Guar gum comes from the guar
4:48bean. Both are approved in Australia,
4:50and we're not saying they're dangerous,
4:52but it's worth knowing that when the
4:53European Food Safety Authority
4:55reevaluated carrageenan in 2018, it kept
4:58it on the approved list while setting
4:59only a temporary acceptable daily intake
5:02and flagging gaps in the data it wanted
5:04filled. Approved? Yes. Fully settled?
5:07Not quite.
5:08And here's the giveaway.
5:11When Bulla launched its pure cream back
5:13in 2017, it described it as pure with no
5:16additives or thickening agents at 45%
5:19fat. So, the same company knows exactly
5:21how to make cream without thickeners.
5:24The thickened carton is a choice, not a
5:26necessity. Oops. Number 11, Coles
5:29thickened cream.
5:32The supermarket's own carton is the one
5:33countless families grab without a second
5:35look because it's at eye level. It's
5:37cheaper than the brands, and it's the
5:39cream every recipe in Australia seems to
5:41ask for.
5:42The label, as recorded in the Open Food
5:44Facts database, reads pasteurized cream,
5:47then thickeners, carrageenan and guar
5:49gum.
5:50Fat around 35 g per 100. So, it's
5:54essentially the same formula as Bulla's,
5:56made under the supermarket's name. Now,
5:58credit where it's due.
5:59This is still mostly cream with no
6:01emulsifiers or gelatin on that recorded
6:03label, but thickened cream is a product
6:05Australians treat as normal, while in a
6:07lot of the world it barely exists.
6:09Overseas recipes ask for heavy cream or
6:11double cream, and when Australians go
6:13looking, we end up being told thickened
6:15cream is the closest thing. It isn't
6:17quite. It's cream with something added
6:19to it so that it behaves the way the
6:21factory wants. And here's what bugs me.
6:23Thickened has become the default, so
6:25most shoppers never realize there's a
6:27cleaner option a few centimeters away on
6:29the same shelf. Plain pure cream will
6:32whip, pour, and cook just as well, and
6:35we'll prove that with a brand on the
6:37good list. Number 10, Woolworths
6:39thickened cream. And here is where a
6:41detail most people never notice comes
6:43into play. The ingredient list recorded
6:45for this carton on Open Food Facts
6:47reads, "Pasteurized cream." Then beef
6:49gelatin. That's it. Two ingredients, and
6:52one of them comes from cattle hides and
6:54bones. Gelatin is made from animal
6:56collagen. It's safe, it's approved, and
6:58it's been used in food for a very long
7:00time. It's there because it sets as it
7:03cools, which helps whipped cream hold
7:05its peaks on a cake or a trifle. But,
7:08think about who might be pouring this
7:10over dessert. If your family is
7:12vegetarian, this cream isn't. If you
7:15avoid beef for religious reasons, this
7:16cream isn't for you, either. And the
7:19only way you'd know is by turning the
7:20carton over and reading the fine print,
7:22because there's nothing on the front
7:24that says, "This cream contains part of
7:26a cow that isn't milk." To be fair,
7:29Woolworths isn't hiding it. It's on the
7:31label, but two cartons, same shelf, same
7:34fat level, both called thickened cream,
7:36and one is set with seaweed, while the
7:38other is set with beef. Most shoppers
7:40will never know which one they took
7:41home. Number nine, Pura Thick Cream
7:44Dollop.
7:45Now we're moving into the dollop cream
7:47section. The thick, spoonable tubs that
7:50sit next to the scones and the pavlova
7:52bases. Pura used to be part of Lion, and
7:55since 2021 it's been a Bega brand. The
7:58Woolworths listing gives the ingredients
8:00as cream, then vegetable gums 407 and
8:03412.
8:04That's carrageenan and guar gum, again.
8:07Now look at the fat. 35 g per 100 ml.
8:11That's exactly the same as an ordinary
8:13carton of cream. So, how does this one
8:15end up thick enough to stand a spoon in?
8:18Real double cream gets thick one way, by
8:21having more fat. It's richer, it's
8:23denser, it sets up naturally. This
8:25dollop cream gets thick the other way.
8:27It takes ordinary cream and adds gums
8:30until it feels like double cream on the
8:32spoon.
8:33And here's the comparison that tells you
8:34everything.
8:36The pure double thick version on the
8:38same website has 46 g of fat per 100 and
8:41just one gum, 407. And on the good list
8:44later, you'll meet a pure cream from
8:46Queensland with nearly 55% fat and no
8:49gums at all. So, the richest thickest
8:52cream in the fridge doesn't need
8:54thickeners. The thickeners show up when
8:56the fat isn't there to do the job. Thick
8:58is a texture. It isn't a guarantee of
9:01richness. Number eight, Pauls thickened
9:03cream.
9:04Pauls is one of the most recognized
9:06dairy names in the country, and these
9:08days it sits under Lactalis, the French
9:10company that also owns Volia, and since
9:13April this year, the old Fonterra brands
9:15like Mainland and Western Star.
9:17According to Pauls own product page, its
9:19regular thickened cream contains cream,
9:22gelatin, stabilizer 407A, and emulsifier
9:26471. Count them.
9:28Three additives in one carton of cream.
9:31407A is processed eucheuma seaweed, a
9:34close cousin of carrageenan.
9:36471 is mono and diglycerides of fatty
9:39acids, an emulsifier used to keep fat
9:41and water behaving.
9:43And gelatin from animal collagen on top.
9:47The fat is 36.6 g per 100, so it's real
9:50cream underneath, but it's been
9:51engineered three different ways to whip
9:53in two to four minutes and hold its
9:54shape. And here's the twist. Pauls also
9:57sells a pure cream, and on the very same
9:59website the company says that one is
10:00just cream, nothing added, and
10:03that it can be heated to boiling without
10:05separating. Read that again.
10:07The same company tells you on its own
10:09product page that it's additive free
10:11cream whips, pours, and cooks. So, why
10:13does the thickened carton need gelatin,
10:15seaweed, and an emulsifier? Not for you.
10:19For speed, for shelf consistency, and
10:21for the cafe trade. And if you need
10:22lactose free, be aware that the Pauls
10:24Zymil Light Thickened Cream less cream
10:27and skim milk, milk solids, gelatin,
10:29407A, and 471, plus the lactase enzyme.
10:34The light version brings skim milk and
10:36milk solids into the mix. Number seven,
10:38Bulla Premium Sour Cream.
10:41Now we're switching to sour cream, and
10:43this is the one that annoys me most
10:45because of one word on the front,
10:47premium.
10:48When you see premium, you think richer,
10:51purer, the best version they make. But
10:53the ingredient list on the Woolworths
10:55website reads fresh cream, fresh skim
10:57milk, halal gelatin, and cultures. Skim
11:01milk and gelatin in the premium sour
11:02cream. Think about why they're there.
11:05Sour cream is supposed to be cream
11:07that's been cultured, soured by
11:09bacteria, which thickens it naturally
11:11and gives it that tang. Add skim milk
11:13and you're thinning it out with a
11:14cheaper part of the milk, add gelatin
11:16and you're putting the body back in. The
11:18fat is still 35.8 g per 100, so it's
11:21legally rich, but the recipe has been
11:23adjusted with ingredients you'd never
11:25use at home. And here's what makes it
11:27frustrating. Bulla also sells a creme
11:29fraiche, and on the same website that
11:31one lists fresh cream and cultures. Two
11:33ingredients, nothing else. So, the same
11:36company in the same fridge makes a
11:38cultured cream with no skim milk and no
11:40gelatin, and still calls the one with
11:42skim milk and gelatin the premium sour
11:45cream.
11:46Words on the front of a tub are
11:47marketing. The ingredient list is the
11:49truth, and if you're vegetarian, once
11:51again, gelatin means this tub isn't for
11:53you, even though nothing on the front
11:55gives you a hint. Number six, Nestle
11:58reduced fat cream. This is the little
12:00tin a lot of Aussie households keep in
12:02the pantry for emergencies. It's a
12:04staple of old school recipes, from dips
12:06to chicken dishes, and it doesn't need
12:08the fridge until you open it. That alone
12:10should make you ask a question.
12:12How does cream sit on a shelf for
12:14months?
12:16According to Nestle Professional's
12:17product page, the ingredients are cream
12:19at 58% then skim milk, milk solids, and
12:22stabilizers 401 and 407. So, just over
12:26half of this tin is cream. The rest is
12:28skim milk and milk solids held together
12:31with sodium alginate, which comes from
12:32brown seaweed, and carrageenan. The fat
12:35is 21.5 g per 100 ml, which Nestle
12:39promotes as 38% less fat than regular
12:41cream. Now, think about how you get 38%
12:44less fat. You don't make a healthier
12:46cream, you make less cream, dilute it
12:48with skim milk and milk solids, then add
12:51stabilizers so it doesn't separate in
12:53the can. That's not a breakthrough.
12:55That's dilution, and it's sold by one of
12:57the biggest food companies on the planet
12:58headquartered in Switzerland. If you
13:00love it in a family recipe, that's fine,
13:02but know what it is. It's a cream-based
13:04product, not cream. If you want less
13:06fat, use a smaller splash of real cream
13:08instead. Number five, Bulla Light Sour
13:10Cream. And here's where sour cream gets
13:12turned upside down.
13:14According to the Woolworths listing, the
13:15ingredients are fresh skim milk, fresh
13:18cream, halal gelatin, and cultures. Skim
13:21milk is the first ingredient, and in
13:23Australia, ingredients have to be listed
13:25in descending order by weight. So, the
13:28biggest thing in this tub of sour cream
13:30isn't cream, it's skim milk. The fat is
13:3218.3 g per 100, roughly half of a real
13:36sour cream. And the reason it still
13:39feels thick on a baked potato is the
13:40gelatin. Skim milk on its own would be
13:43runny. The cultures give it tang, the
13:45gelatin gives it body, and the small
13:47amount of cream gives it just enough
13:49richness to pass.
13:51The Bulla Light Sour Cream
13:53food service specification tells the
13:55same story in a different way. Reduced
13:57fat cream, halal gelatin, and sour cream
14:00culture.
14:01And there's a version that goes further.
14:04The Bulla Lactose Free Sour Cream Light
14:06on the Woolworths website lists reduced
14:08fat cream, milk solids, thickener 1422,
14:12lactase enzyme, and cultures. 1422 is
14:15acetylated distarch adipate, a
14:18chemically modified starch. So, in one
14:20variety, the body comes from gelatin,
14:22and in the other, it comes from modified
14:24starch.
14:25Here's the thing about light. A spoonful
14:27of real sour cream on your nachos is
14:30maybe 20 g. The fat difference between
14:32real and light in that spoonful is
14:33around 3 and 1/2 g. You're giving up the
14:36real ingredient for a very small saving.
14:38Number four, Bulla Cooking Cream. This
14:41one sounds incredibly practical, and the
14:42marketing leans hard into that. On the
14:45Woolworths listing, it's described as a
14:46pasteurized reduced fat thickened
14:49cooking cream that heats without
14:51curdling, resists splitting, and
14:53thickens fast. Every home cook has had a
14:55sauce split, so I understand the appeal.
14:58But, look at what it takes. The
14:59ingredient list reads reduced fat cream,
15:01then thickeners 1422, xanthan gum, and
15:05carrageenan, then emulsifier 472e, then
15:09mineral salts calcium carbonate and
15:11potassium chloride. Count the additives.
15:13Three thickeners, one emulsifier, and
15:15two mineral salts. That's six additives
15:18in a carton of cooking cream. 1422 is a
15:20modified starch. Xanthan gum is made by
15:23fermenting sugar with bacteria. 472e is
15:26DATEM, an emulsifier more commonly found
15:28in bread dough. And the fat is 18.1 g
15:31per 100, about half of real cream. So,
15:34why does it need all that to stop
15:35splitting? Because it's reduced fat.
15:38Here's the kitchen truth the carton
15:39doesn't mention. Cream splits when there
15:41isn't enough fat to protect the milk
15:43proteins from heat and acid. Full fat
15:46pure cream at 35% or more is far more
15:48stable in a hot pan than a light cream.
15:50That's exactly why Pauls can say its
15:52pure cream can be boiled without
15:54separating. Take the fat out, the cream
15:57becomes fragile, and then you need a
15:58list of additives to fix the problem you
16:00created. The carton also says Australian
16:03family owned and made, and that's true,
16:05and that's great. But, family owned
16:06doesn't change what's in the carton.
16:08Number three, Coles Light Sour Cream.
16:11Now, we're getting into the products
16:12where cream is barely the point anymore.
16:15The ingredient list recorded on Open
16:16Food Facts reads, "Skimmed milk, cream,
16:19skimmed milk powder, thickener 1442,
16:23and cultures." Skim milk first, then
16:25cream, then more skim milk in powdered
16:27form, then a modified starch. 1442 is
16:30hydroxypropyl distarch phosphate, the
16:33same modified starch we found holding
16:35together the light Greek yogurts in our
16:37yogurt investigation. And now look at
16:39the fat. The recorded nutrition panel
16:41shows 8.9 g of fat per 100 g, 8.9.
16:46Remember, the legal floor for something
16:48sold simply as cream is 35%. This has
16:51roughly a quarter of that. There are
16:53full-fat Greek yogurts in the same
16:55supermarket with around 10% fat. So
16:57nutritionally this sour cream sits
16:59closer to a rich yogurt than to cream.
17:02Skim milk is the cheap part of the milk.
17:04Skim milk powder is even cheaper. Starch
17:06gives it the thick texture. And the word
17:08cream on the front does the rest. It's
17:11cultured, yes, but calling it sour cream
17:13when skim milk is the main ingredient
17:14and the fat is under 9% is a stretch. If
17:17you want a lighter topping, buy a plain
17:19Greek yogurt with a short ingredient
17:21list and call it what it is. You'll get
17:23more protein, a similar tang, and no
17:25starch. Number two, Flora Thickened
17:28Plant Cream. And now we leave dairy
17:30completely. This sits in the cream
17:32fridge right next to the real cartons.
17:34The packaging talks about thickened
17:36cream, and it's promoted as a one-to-one
17:38replacement for dairy cream in pouring,
17:41cooking, and whipping. But the
17:43ingredient list on the Woolworths
17:45website reads, "Lentil milk made from
17:47water and lentil protein, then vegetable
17:49oils, coconut and canola, then sugar,
17:52modified corn starch, three emulsifiers,
17:55sunflower lecithin, sugar esters of
17:58fatty acids and mono- and diglycerides,
18:00two stabilizers, guar gum and locust
18:02bean gum, natural flavorings, salt, and
18:05beta-carotene for color." There is no
18:07cream in this product. No milk, no milk
18:10fat, nothing that has ever come from a
18:12dairy. The richness comes from coconut
18:14and canola oil. The thickness comes from
18:16starch and gums. The creamy color comes
18:19from beta-carotene. The creamy taste
18:22comes from flavorings. Every single
18:25quality that makes you think of cream
18:26has been built in a factory and added
18:28back in. And the country of origin label
18:30says it's made in Germany. So, it's
18:32traveling halfway around the world to
18:33sit in an Australian fridge next to
18:36cream from Australian cows. And if the
18:38name Flora sounds familiar, it should.
18:41It's the same brand we looked at in our
18:42butter investigation and it belongs to
18:45Flora Food Group, the business formerly
18:47known as Upfield, which was bought from
18:49Unilever by the American private equity
18:51firm KKR. Now, to be fair, if you're
18:55vegan or allergic to dairy, a
18:57plant-based cream can absolutely have a
18:59place in your kitchen and I'm not
19:00knocking anyone who needs it. But, don't
19:02buy it because you think it's a lighter
19:04or cleaner version of cream. It has 31 g
19:07of fat per 100, most of it saturated
19:09from coconut oil, plus added sugar. It's
19:12an engineered emulsion wearing cream's
19:14name. Number one, Woolworths light
19:17whipped cream.
19:18And we're ending where we started. This
19:20is the aerosol can that sits in the
19:22cream section, the one kids love because
19:24you get to press the nozzle and watch it
19:26swirl over a sundae or a hot chocolate.
19:28Whipped cream, it's right there on the
19:30can. The ingredient list on the
19:32Woolworths website reads skimmed milk
19:34concentrate, then cream at 40%
19:37containing a minimum of 35% milk fat,
19:40then liquid sugar made of sugar and
19:41water, then propellant, nitrous oxide,
19:44then emulsifier 471, vegetable gum 401,
19:49and natural flavor. So, the first and
19:51biggest ingredient in this whipped cream
19:53is concentrated skimmed milk. Cream
19:55makes up 40% of the can. Under the law,
19:57the cream portion still has to be real
19:59cream. But, most of what's in this can
20:01is something else. Then, there's the
20:03sugar. The nutrition panel shows 11.3 g
20:06of sugar per 100 g. Some of that is
20:09natural lactose from the milk, but
20:11there's liquid sugar listed third in the
20:12ingredients. So, a big chunk of it is
20:15added. Then, the gas. Nitrous oxide
20:17pushes the cream out and whips air into
20:19it at the same time. It's approved as a
20:22food additive and it's perfectly safe as
20:24a propellant, but it means part of what
20:25you're paying for is literally air. A
20:28250 g can goes a long way on a dessert
20:32precisely because so much of the volume
20:34that comes out is gas. And here's why it
20:36tops the list, light whipped cream. Two
20:39words that make you think of a healthier
20:40version of the real thing.
20:43But the fat is only 17.4 g per 100,
20:46about half of cream, because the recipe
20:48swaps cream for skim milk concentrate,
20:51and then add sugar, an emulsifier, and a
20:53seaweed-based gum to make it behave.
20:56It's legal. It's on the label, but it
20:58wears the name of the simplest food in
21:00the dairy fridge and delivers one of the
21:01most processed. You could whip real pure
21:03cream with a whisk in about 3 minutes
21:05and get something better. So, those are
21:08the 12. Before we get to the good ones,
21:09I want to hear from you. What's the
21:11cream cream that's been sitting in your
21:13fridge for years without you ever
21:15turning it over? Thickened, dollop,
21:17light, the can? And now that you've seen
21:19this list, are you going to check it
21:21tonight? Drop it in the comments,
21:23because the more of us talk about this,
21:25the harder it is for brands to keep
21:27relying on the front of the pack. Now,
21:31how do you never get caught out again?
21:32It takes about 10 seconds once you know
21:34where to look. First, ignore the front.
21:36Ignore thickened. Ignore light, light,
21:38and reduced. Ignore premium, dollop,
21:41cooking, whipping, and plant cream. Just
21:44turn the carton around. Second, read the
21:46ingredients. Real cream is cream. That's
21:48it. One ingredient. Real sour cream or
21:51crème fraîche is cream and cultures. Two
21:54ingredients. What you're watching for is
21:55everything else. Skim milk, skimmed milk
21:58concentrate, milk solids, skim milk
22:01powder, water, sugar, gelatin, and the
22:04numbers.
22:05407, 407A, 412, 401, 1422, 1442, 415,
22:12471, 472E.
22:15Every one of those tells you the product
22:16has been adjusted after it left the
22:18separator. Third, read the order. If
22:21skim milk comes before cream, you're not
22:23buying cream. You're buying a milk
22:25product with some cream in it. That
22:27single check would have caught three of
22:29the products on this list. Fourth, the
22:31fat test. This is the one most people
22:33have never thought about, and it's the
22:34most powerful. Look at the nutrition
22:36panel. Real cream is 35 g of fat per 100
22:39or more. Double cream and pure creams
22:41can go well over 45, even up to 55. Real
22:45sour cream sits up around 35, as well.
22:47If you're looking at something in the
22:48teens or under 10, it isn't really cream
22:51anymore, no matter what the label says.
22:53And here's a bonus, below roughly 30%
22:55fat, cream won't whip properly on its
22:57own. That's exactly why light creams and
22:59light whipped products need gums,
23:02gelatin, and emulsifiers to fake it.
23:04Fifth, the vegetarian check. If you
23:07don't eat meat, look for the word
23:08gelatin on every cream and sour cream
23:11you buy. It turns up in thickened cream,
23:14in light sour cream, and even in a
23:16premium sour cream. Nothing on the front
23:18will warn you.
23:19And here's one more thing to know,
23:20there's a myth that you need thickened
23:22cream to whip a pavlova topping or to
23:25make a stable sauce. You don't. Pure
23:27cream with at least 35% fat whips
23:30beautifully if the cream, the bowl, and
23:32the whisk are cold. And full-fat cream
23:35is the most stable cream there is in a
23:37hot pan. The additives are solving
23:39problems for factories and cafes,
23:41they're not solving problems for your
23:43kitchen. Now, the good news, here are
23:45the four that are actually real cream,
23:47and they're easier to find than you'd
23:48think. First, Maleny Dairies Pure Cream.
23:51This one comes from the Sunshine Coast
23:53hinterland in Queensland, and the
23:55Woolworths listing describes the
23:56ingredients as pasteurized pure cream.
23:59That's it. No thickeners, no gelatin, no
24:02gums. And look at the fat, 54.7 g per
24:06100 ml. That's one of the richest creams
24:09you'll find in an Australian
24:10supermarket. On its own website, the
24:12company lists pure cream as the only
24:15ingredient and says there are no
24:16additives, no preservatives, and no
24:18added sugar. Remember the dollop cream
24:21that needed gums to get thick at 35%
24:23fat? This one is naturally thick because
24:26it's genuinely rich. Spoon it straight
24:28onto a scone and it holds. Whip it and
24:30it turns into something close to clotted
24:32cream in no time, so keep an eye on it.
24:34Maleny Dairies is a family-owned
24:36Queensland business, and it's the kind
24:38of producer that deserves your support.
24:40If you've only ever bought thickened,
24:42this is the carton that will change your
24:44mind. Second, Dairy Farmers Pure Cream.
24:47And yes, this is a Bega brand, the same
24:48company behind the Pure Dollop Cream
24:50that landed at number nine. That's
24:52exactly the point. On the Woolworths
24:54website, the ingredient list for the 500
24:56ml carton reads, "Pasteurized pure
24:59cream." One ingredient. And the fat is
25:0135 g per 100, exactly the legal
25:04benchmark for cream.
25:06So, the same company that sells you
25:07ordinary cream with gums added to make
25:10it thick, also sells plain honest cream
25:12in the same fridge. It's widely
25:14available, and you can use it for
25:15everything. Pour it, cook with it, whip
25:18it for a sponge cake. If you want one
25:20everyday swap to make this week, this is
25:21the easiest one in the country. Third,
25:24Pauls Pure Cream. Yes, the same Pauls
25:27that landed at number eight with three
25:29additives in its thickened cream. And
25:31this is exactly why you can't
25:33judge a brand by its name. According to
25:35Pauls own website, its pure cream is
25:38cream from milk. And that's the full
25:40ingredient list. The pack carries a
25:42nothing added message. The fat is 39.4 g
25:46per 100, and the company itself says
25:49it's suitable for whipping, pouring, and
25:50cooking, and can be heated to boiling
25:53without separating. Read that again,
25:55because it's the most important sentence
25:57in this whole video.
25:59The company that adds gelatin, seaweed,
26:01and an emulsifier to its thickened cream
26:03says, on its own website, that its pure
26:05cream whips, pours, cooks, and won't
26:08split when it boils. So, every argument
26:10for thickened cream comes apart in a
26:12single product page. Same company, same
26:15shelf, same colors. The name earns your
26:18trust. The ingredient list tells you
26:20which carton actually deserves it.
26:22Fourth, Bulla Crème Fraîche. And this is
26:25the one for everyone who loves sour
26:28cream, because it's what sour cream is
26:30supposed to be.
26:32According to the Woolworths listing, the
26:34ingredients are fresh cream and
26:36cultures. That's it. No skim milk, no
26:38gelatin, no starch. The fat is 36.4
26:42g per 100. So, it's real rich cultured
26:45cream. A creme fraiche is simply cream
26:48that's been soured by friendly bacteria,
26:50the traditional French way. It's
26:52slightly milder than a typical sour
26:54cream, a little thicker and silkier, and
26:56it has one huge advantage in the
26:58kitchen. Because it's full fat, it
26:59doesn't curdle when you stir it into a
27:01hot sauce or soup, which is exactly what
27:03light sour cream does. Use it on nachos,
27:06on a baked potato, in a stroganoff, or
27:08with fresh berries. And remember, this
27:10is made by Bulla, the same company
27:12behind the premium sour cream with skim
27:14milk and gelatin at number seven, and
27:16the light sour cream at number five. The
27:18real thing is sitting right next to
27:20them. You just have to know which tub to
27:22pick up. Before we finish, a couple of
27:25honorable mentions because I don't want
27:26you leaving here thinking only one or
27:28two creams in the country are honest.
27:30Barambah Organics, from the Goondiwindi
27:33region on the Queensland and New South
27:35Wales border, makes a certified organic
27:38pure cream and a cultured sour cream
27:40that its stockists describe as free of
27:42additives and preservatives. They're
27:44harder to find and more expensive,
27:46usually in independent grocers and
27:48organic stores, but they're beautifully
27:50simple. And there's a bonus option that
27:52no supermarket will ever advertise. Make
27:54your own sour cream. It's easier than
27:57making yogurt and takes about 2 minutes
27:58of actual work. You need two things: a
28:01carton of pure cream, like the ones we
28:04just talked about, and a couple of
28:06tablespoons of something with live
28:07cultures. Cultured buttermilk works
28:09best. A spoonful of creme fraiche or
28:12plain natural yogurt with live cultures
28:15works, too. That's your starter. Pour
28:17300 ml of pure cream into a clean glass
28:20jar. Stir in 2 tablespoons of cultured
28:22buttermilk or a tablespoon of creme
28:24fraiche or yogurt.
28:26Put the lid on loosely or cover the jar
28:28with a clean cloth, and leave it on the
28:30kitchen bench somewhere around normal
28:31room temperature, out of direct sun.
28:34Leave it for 12 to 24 hours. The
28:36cultures do the work. They sour the
28:38cream and thicken it naturally with no
28:40gelatin and no starch. When it's thick
28:44and has a pleasant tang, put the lid on
28:45properly and put it in the fridge where
28:47it'll firm up even more overnight. It'll
28:50keep for about a week. A quick safety
28:51note, use clean equipment, use
28:53pasteurized cream, and if anything ever
28:55smells off, looks pink, or grows
28:57anything on the surface, throw it out
28:59and start again. That's rare, but it's
29:01the rule with any home fermenting. And
29:04if you want whipped cream without the
29:05can, grab pure cream, chill your bowl
29:08and whisk in the fridge for 10 minutes,
29:09then whip. A teaspoon of icing sugar and
29:12a drop of real vanilla if you want it
29:13sweet. Stop as soon as you've got soft
29:15peaks. That's it. Real whipped cream in
29:17about 3 minutes with no skim milk
29:19concentrate, no emulsifier, and no gas.
29:22And if you go too far, keep going
29:24because you've just started making
29:25butter. So, here's what to do the next
29:27time you're at Coles, Woolworths, Aldi,
29:29or IGA. Pick up the carton or the tub
29:32and turn it over before it goes in the
29:34trolley. If you see skim milk, milk
29:36solids, sugar, gelatin, starch, or a
29:39string of numbers like 407, 412, 1422,
29:43or 1442, put it back if what you wanted
29:45was cream. Look for cream or cream and
29:48cultures and nothing else. Check the fat
29:50on the nutrition panel and if it's well
29:52under 35 g per 100, you're not buying
29:55cream anymore. Skip the light versions
29:57and use a smaller amount of the real
29:58thing. And if you've got a whisk and 3
30:00minutes, you'll never need the aerosol
30:02can again. Every time you choose the
30:03real thing, you tell these companies
30:05that you can read a label and that
30:06you're not paying cream prices for skim
30:08milk, seaweed, gelatin, and air anymore.
30:11If this has changed the way you look at
30:13the cream fridge, give it a like, tap
30:15that hype button so more Aussie families
30:17see it, and subscribe because we're
30:19going through the supermarket aisle by
30:21aisle. And tell me in the comments which
30:23cream is in your fridge right now, and
30:25did it pass the test? And what should we
30:27put under the microscope next?

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