About Ice Cream: Safety First

The majority of all ice cream varieties can be conditionally grouped under the term "frozen sweet dessert product." In the classic version — based on milk, cream, butter, sugar.

A little magic, or how is ice cream made?

The quality and shelf life of ice cream directly depend on its composition. That is why all product components are carefully prepared and cleaned of impurities before mixing. To eliminate possible microbes, the ingredient mixture is necessarily pasteurized. Homogenization may also be one of the preparation stages.

A key stage of production is freezing, during which the mixture is whipped, enriching it with air. This occurs at approximately –3°C. After that, the obtained mass is quickly cooled to much lower temperatures: from –25 to –37°C. This rapid freezing stage is also called hardening. Then the ice cream is packaged.

The eyes wander: how to choose?

There are quite a few manufacturers, and you can buy ice cream almost at every step. However, you should remember a few things.

For example, that ice cream is a rich nutritious protein product and if low-quality raw materials are used, improper preparation and storage conditions can lead to acute gastrointestinal infections.

Not all "street vendors" legally conduct their activities or are ready to take responsibility for the quality of what they sell. It is worth knowing that the shelf life of ice cream "by weight" is one day! In the vast majority of cases, vendors of such products are their own directors. Whether they will throw away in the evening what didn’t sell during the day is something to consider. Moreover, it is with soft ice cream that most of the sad stories about listeriosis, salmonellosis, and E. coli are associated. Therefore it is worth approaching its consumption with caution, especially for pregnant women and children.

About ice cream "in a cup." Here it seems more cheerful, because it has a lot of labels on it, the manufacturer, composition, shelf life, and storage conditions are noted, which is good. But the trouble sometimes lies in those same storage conditions. Because (oh, horror), some unscrupulous retail networks do not hesitate to periodically disconnect freezers to save electricity. By the way, this affects not only ice cream but also other products sold frozen — fish, vegetables, meat, butter. Such temperature fluctuations affect not only taste and appearance but also microbial indicators. Because ice cream is not sterile from the start. For example, according to DSTU, in one gram of ice cream with dried fruits and berries, nuts, raisins, dried apricots, prunes, there may be up to 100,000 alien microbial cells (mafa), up to 500 fungal cells, and up to 100 yeast cells. In a frozen state, these figures do not change. Therefore, if there are temperature fluctuations, microbial growth may occur. And if this lasts for a long time, it is not hard to get sick from such a product.

Therefore, note:

• adherence to the storage temperature regime for ice cream (no higher than –16°C);
• deformation of the ice cream form;
• presence of frost in the inside of the package;
• presence of residue and contamination of the product on the inner packaging;
• whether the top is not "slumping" in a cup or tub.

If any of these points give you pause, perhaps the temperature chain is broken. Also pay attention to the temperature and consistency of the product — the ice cream should be cold and firm.

Uneven ice cream texture with noticeable ice crystals, as well as a greasy taste or a sensation of "grit in the teeth" (lactose crystals) should also raise concern. This indicates non-compliance with whipping, freezing, and storage regimes. If ice cream with chocolate glaze, it should be without a bloom, water droplets, cracks, not crumble or stick to teeth.

Remember also that the shelf life of ice cream depends on the storage temperature: at minus (18+++2)°C — 10 months; at minus (24+++2)°C — 12 months.

It is also worth noting that despite its “lightness and coolness,” ice cream is predominantly a high-calorie product with a high content of sugar and saturated fats. Here it’s simple — like with other products, we count added sugar (it should be no more than 50 g, but better no more than 25 g per day) and saturated fats. There should be no more than 20 g of saturated fat per day in the diet (https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/eat-well/different-fats-nutrition/?fbclid=IwAR1RO1aBzDcyCneIJuRwh_nU2uuYsUGa0HV7dbR3MF2jSuglXFzLB9d47UE#saturated-fat-guidelines).

It is also worth noting that ice cream is categorized by fat content as dairy (fat content from 0.5 to 7.5%), cream-based (from 8.0 to 11.5%), Plombir (from 12.0 to 20.0%).

And a few words about the ingredients.

If you want ice cream made only from dairy products without fats of plant origin, look for DSTU 4733:2007 on the packaging.

If you like fruit ice , pay attention to DSTU 4734:2007 on labeling. Such ice cream is made from fruit-berry or vegetable raw materials with added sugar syrup and other ingredients.

If the ice cream labeling states DSTU 4735:2007, remember that this ice cream is made with a combined raw material composition with partial replacement of dairy material by plant-based components (plant fats).

So here’s to a bright and tasty summer! Choose the best, take care of your health, and savor quality products.

Photo by Clem Onojeghuo on Unsplash