Artificial Penguin?

I was just perusing this week's Reader's round-up of area ice cream sources, and came across a surprising assertion regarding Penguin's gelato:

While not for purists--the milk is powdered, the vanilla artificial--Penguin's gelato is nonetheless enlightening.

It goes on rather positively, but powdered milk?! Can this be true?

I tried Penguin for the first time rather recently, and like many before me I didn't ask to try many flavors before choosing one. What I had was fine, but certainly not mind-blowing. However, I wouldn't have guessed it was made with powdered milk or artificial vanilla (I had vanilla chocolate chip, and the chips seemed to be nothing special, e.g., Nestle's semisweet).

Cook's Illustrated did a taste test in which artificial vanilla scored as highly as pure extract. I was highly skeptical, I must admit -- perhaps in baked goods, it wouldn't matter, but I'd think you'd notice in ice cream.