Ice cream

Description of product

A freezing process forms the ice cream into a solid, creamy or pasty state that should be consumed frozen. It mainly consists of milk and dairy products, fruits, eggs, different types of sugar, honey, drinking water, butter and vegetable fats, flavours and food colouring. Depending on the type, ingredients such as coffee, chocolate, cocoa, nuts, nougat or raisins are added. Also, colourants and stabilising or emulsifying ingredients are used.

• To make ice cream the basic products are mixed, pasteurised, homogenised and cooled off. The liquid mix is frozen by "over-run".
• Depending on the ingredients there are different types: milk- and cream-based ice cream, fruit sorbet, "simple" ice cream, "substitute" ice cream and diabetic ice cream.
• See also: confectionery /sweets

Possible application of gene technology

Applications of gene technology are possible in the following ingredients that commonly are found in ice cream. However, the extent to which a particular product is affected by these possibilities cannot be stated with certainty:

• glucose syrup, fructose syrup
• lactoprotein or whey powder
• milk
• eggs
• starch and / or modified starch
• sugar
• emulsifiers lecithin, monoglycerides and diglycerides
• flavour vanillin (for ice cream with vanilla flavour)
• diet products e.g. sugar substitutes such as sorbitol, aspartame, fructose, isomalt
• vegetable fats
• acidifier citric acid
• colourants beta-carotene, riboflavin
• fruit mixture
• thickener xanthan gum, cellulose to improve viscosity
• enzyme lactase

In Great Britain, the company Unilever has applyed for a permission for a "new type" of ice cream. During its production a protein from deep sea fish is used. The protein is produced with the aid of GM yeast (saccharomyces cerevisae). The effect is such that, because the ice crystals subsequently form at lower temperatures, less fat must be added to the ice cream. Therefore, the consistency and taste of the ice cream would improve. The British food authority has granted permission for its use. Reactions from other European countries are to be expected. In Australia, New Zealand and Indonesia the production process already has been authorised.