I have been using half and half instead of cream on the recommendation of 2 guys I know who have been on Atkins for over a year. THe difference carb wise is about .1 and the difference calorie wise is one half the calories. I do not know the official word but I do know it had no effect on my weight loss. I for one cant figure out how cheese is allowed when it is made from milk. If you are eating a lot of cream as a treat I would cut back since that was a killer to my loss when I was doing it.