Ever wondered why a scoop of ice cream takes so long to melt, even on a warm day?
Now scientist and TV doctor Chris van Tulleken has found out – and the truth is hard to swallow.
He discovered that most ice creams are packed with cheap, highly processed ingredients designed to give factory-made gloop the taste and texture of traditional ice cream made with real ingredients.
His curiosity was piqued when he took his daughters Sasha, one, and Lyra, three, on a balmy fall day on a trip to the park and bought his eldest a pistachio-flavored ice cream.
After drinking a few bites, she ran off to play with friends and handed the tub to her father.
Scientist and TV doctor Chris van Tulleken has discovered what’s in many ice creams – and the truth is hard to swallow
dr van Tulleken met with Paul Hart, a biochemist who worked for food giant Unilever for 20 years, who told him that most commercially produced ice creams are “all about price and cost” (file image).
dr van Tulleken extended his search to a brand of budget ice cream, Tesco’s Ms Molly’s Vanilla, and found it contained an even longer list of processed and ultra-processed ingredients (file image).
dr Van Tulleken wrote in The Mail on Sunday: “Her ice cream I noticed was a shiny green ball of pistachios. It took me a moment to realize that this was most odd. How was it another ball?
“The sun was beating down and the outside of the tub felt warm. Something had clearly stopped the ice from melting.”
At home, he looked up the ingredients of commercially made pistachio ice cream.
“Some were as expected: fresh milk and double cream, sugar, salt, a small sprinkling of pistachios.
“For others, the alarm bells went off: soy protein, soy lecithin, coconut oil, sunflower oil, chlorophyll, glucose, dextrose, stabilizers (locust bean gum, guar gum, carrageenan), emulsifier (mono- and diglycerides of fatty acids).”
dr Van Tulleken broadened his search to an inexpensive brand of ice cream, Tesco’s Ms Molly’s Vanilla, and found that this contained an even longer list of processed and highly processed ingredients: reconstituted skim milk concentrate, partially reconstituted whey powder (milk), glucose syrup, sugar, dextrose, palm stearin , palm oil, palm kernel oil, emulsifier (mono- and diglycerides of fatty acids), stabilizers (guar gum, sodium alginate), flavoring and coloring (carotene).
In contrast, a naturally made ice cream contains a limited number of “real” ingredients: specifically, milk, cream, sugar, skim milk powder, egg yolk, and vanilla essence — plus chunks or puree of flavor such as pistachio or strawberry.
dr van Tulleken met with Paul Hart, a biochemist who worked for food giant Unilever for 20 years, who told him that most commercially produced ice creams are “all about price and cost – these ingredients save money”.
Many of those ingredients, like the oils and emulsifiers, Mr. Hart said, mimicked the roles that milk fat and egg play in traditional ice cream.
But he explained that the gums, glycerins and emulsifiers also prevent ice crystal formation, meaning the ice is easier to transport without very low temperatures – and slows the melting process in the tub.
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