Why won’t ice cream melt anymore?

August 2 2014 by in Food for kids, Industrial food-like products

Why won’t the ice cream melt anymore?

An American woman got a surprise when her kid had left an ice cream outside in the sun – and it didn’t melt. A TV channel did their own tests and confirmed the finding. While real ice cream quickly melted, the cheap ice cream from Walmart didn’t melt.

The secret behind this is the ingredients: less real cream and more sugar and more stabilizing agents such as guar gum and cellulose gum.

According to the manufacturer, the non-melting ice cream is “healthy” and meets all requirements from FDA.

Besides, who doesn’t love the taste of warm gum in the summer?

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29 comments

1
Misko
August 2 2014
I wonder how much sugar there is in a sugar and gum sandwich as this one...about fifteen tbsp, perhaps?
2
Marci
August 3 2014
I'm sure there is NO sugar in that "ice cream sandwich." Look for high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) instead. It's Monsanto's creation and the largest culprit in the obesity/diabetes epidemic. I won't allow anything containing this disgusting fake sugar in the house.

Replies: #6, #26
3
smc
August 3 2014
Here is one sample of such a sandwich (14 g sugars; 28 carbs):

ICE CREAM: MILKFAT AND NONFAT MILK, SUGAR, CORN SYRUP, HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP, BUTTERMILK, WHEY, MONO AND DIGLYCERIDES, GUAR GUM, CAROB BEAN GUM, POLYSORBATE 80, CARRAGEENAN, NATURAL AND ARTIFICIAL FLAVORS AND ANNATTO (FOR COLOR). WAFERS CONTAIN: BLEACHED WHEAT FLOUR, SUGAR, CARAMEL COLOR, CORN SUGAR, VEGETABLE SHORTENING (PARTIALLY HYDROGENATED OILS: SOYBEAN, COTTONSEED), YELLOW CORN FLOUR, COCOA, HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP, CORN SYRUP, MODIFIED CORN STRACH, BAKING SODA, SALT, MONO AND DIGLYCERIDES, SOY LECITHIN

http://www.hood.com/products/proddetail.aspx?id=657&lb=921

Reply: #4
4
Reply to comment #3 by smc
Boundless
August 3 2014
Simple sugars are listed as 7 separate ingredients. Had they all been lumped together they might have had to be listed as the first ingredient. Thanks to "ingredient dithering", the risk of that was avoided.

And yes, the "STRACH" misspelling is from the maker.
5
tz
August 3 2014
There's shaved ice, and ice cream, but this looks like shaving cream.
6
Reply to comment #2 by Marci
JD
August 3 2014
Actually Marci Masonto didn't create HFCS, Japanese scientist did. Masonto genetically engineered the franken-corn that's used in most production of HFCS.
7
erdoke
August 3 2014
I'm wondering how much evidence there is behind HFCS being worse than table sugar. I guess HFCS 42 is in fact lower in fructose due to the same sweetness being the primary goal.
The real problem is the amounts consumed and the fact that HFCS is added to food types one normally does not expect it's there certainly does not help.
HFCS itself is a sugar substitute with some advantages for the food industry. It should not be demonized, but avoided in big amounts...
Regarding above list of ingredients, I'm at least as concerned about partially hydrogenated soybean and cottonseed oils. Overconsumption of sugar and its substitutes has been getting some awareness lately, but different forms of vegetable oils are still hiding in almost all processed foods without many noticing.

Reply: #12
8
robert
August 3 2014
Sadly "ice cream" doesn't seem to be protected as is "cheese". If something is called "cheese" it must contain milk (cow, goat, sheep...) and only that. Ice cream on the other hand has become an attractor for all sorts of industrialized food crap. For me it is now impossible to purchase real ice cream (cream, sugar, eggs, vanilla...). Everything in the stores, be it the cheap stuff or really expensive brands, it contains crap (nondescript vegetable fats, hydrogenated oils, hfcs, artificial aroma...), it doesn't matter how much money you want to spend. Ice cream has been transformed into a food-like substance and is off the menu. Sadly, the only safe way is to make it yourself.

Reply: #10
9
murray
August 3 2014
I dont see the problem with guar gum, which is essentially a resistant starch. I have used it in homemade ice cream, which improves the emulsion. It is not "gummy" in the least. It certainly does not inhibit the ice cream from melting.
10
Reply to comment #8 by robert
murray
August 3 2014
robert, cheese labelling depends on where you live. A few years ago in Canada there was a battle over the requirements for a cheese to be called Canadian cheddar. Previously, such cheese was made from "modified milk ingredients." The compromise was that it now has to have at least 75% fresh milk. Other labelling requirements (especially European AOC designations) are much more strict. GEnuine Roquefort, for example, has to be made from raw milk of sheep pastured in a small region and be made in specified ways.
11
Tyrannocaster
August 3 2014
Robert, if you are in the USA Haagen Dazs (however they spell it, LOL) is basically "okay" as far as the ingredients go - that is, if you don't care about sugar or where the cream comes from. Their vanilla contains "cream, skim milk, sugar, egg yolks, vanilla extract " and that's it. It's pretty good commercial ice cream (although if I were making ice cream at home I wouldn't be adding skim milk), but not for people who are trying to keep their sugar levels down. Which should be everybody. :-)

In other countries I have no idea what is available and I would be curious to hear the options.

Murray, a lot of people have problems with guar gum. Don't have links handy but Google will come up with a ton of them.

I was astonished when I read the story about the ice cream sandwiches earlier this week, but after I thought about it, it's not surprising.
12
Reply to comment #7 by erdoke
Boundless
August 3 2014
> I'm wondering how much evidence there is behind HFCS being worse than table sugar.

Well, it's easy to find dissident nutrition sites opining on that, such as:
http://authoritynutrition.com/why-is-fructose-bad-for-you/
and the rise in the production of HFCS does correlate perfectly with the rise in non-infectious chronic diseases (esp. obesity), but then so does the rise in the consumption of semi-dwarf hybrid wheat, PUFA seed oils, and some other usual suspects in modern diet.

The fructose in HFCS is free fructose, which probably exacerbates the metabolic problems it presents. That HFCS probably came from GMO corn is likely irrelevant. I doubt any Bt genetics or glyphosate uptake survive the extensive refining process.

But the bottom line is that there is zero need to consume added refined sugars of any kind, and added refined fructose in particular. I confine my fructose consumption to that occurring naturally in fruits, as whole fruits, and subject to interval net carb targets.

Reply: #13
13
Reply to comment #12 by Boundless
erdoke
August 3 2014
I'm just thinking loud, but table sugar is 50 % fructose compared to HFCS 42 (%). There is some energy needed to hydrolyze sucrose to fructose and glucose, but it is still at least as high in fructose. Don't get me wrong, I don't want to argue for HFCS over table sugar, they just seem to be equally bad due to the overconsumption in SAD.

Reply: #15
14
Lori Miller
August 3 2014
My recipes for non-dairy, low-carb ice cream:

XXX Chocolate
http://relievemypain.blogspot.com/2012/12/xxx-chocolate-ice-cream-low...

Lemon
http://relievemypain.blogspot.com/2012/07/non-dairy-low-carb-lemon-ic...

Reply: #16
15
Reply to comment #13 by erdoke
Boundless
August 3 2014
> ... table sugar is 50 % fructose compared to HFCS 42 (%).

Of course the more common HFCS is up to 65% fructose. So-called agave nectar (actually extra high fructose agave root syrup) can be up to 90%. For the truly demented, you can buy pure fructose in so-called health food stores, and it would be an equal error to leave the added sugar in but make it all glucose (which you can also buy).

> There is some energy needed to hydrolyze sucrose to
> fructose and glucose, but it is still at least as high in fructose.

Sugar researchers like Lustig (referenced earlier) and Johnson ("The Fat Switch") might disagree, but I concur that the extra hazards, if any, of fructose vs. glucose are minor compared to the important (and challenging) business of getting added sugar out of the diet. Just going LCHF turns the saccharide danger dial down significantly.

> ... they just seem to be equally bad due to the overconsumption in SAD.

Yep, and very hard to avoid in processed foods. If it isn't contaminated with wheat, it's got sugar, and if not those then PUFA oils, unfermented soy, or a long list of other toxins including several seriously questionable artificial sweeteners (and that might include the Splenda used in a recipe above, due both to the dextrose filler and the sucralose).

Reply: #17
16
Reply to comment #14 by Lori Miller
robert
August 3 2014
Low carb it is, but I don't know about the sweetener. Certainly doesn't fall into the category of "real food".

Thinking about it, I don't approve of artificial sweeteners at all. These things tend to come out a chemical plant and may lead to over-consumption, because they are perceived as safe.

If you want something sweet eat the real thing (fresh fruit) in small amounts. I wonder what your chocolate ice-cream would taste like without the sweetener, served with a couple of cherries. True low-carb people would probably find the cherries sweet enough to sweeten the ice-cream when mixed in.

Replies: #21, #22
17
Reply to comment #15 by Boundless
erdoke
August 3 2014
Just to be correct, the two most common forms of HFCS worldwide by sold volume are 42 and 55 respectively. Probably it is 55 in the US. Production (glucose isomerisation) results in something around 45 % and it is either diluted with 95-96 % glucose to 42 or purified to higher fructose and then diluted to 55. The book "Glucose Syrups – Technology and Applications" by Peter Hull is within reach even right now, I have been studying it recently. :)
I don't know much about physiological effects of artificial sweeteners though.
Otherwise we are exactly on the same page.
18
Stacy in USA
August 3 2014
Haagen daz USA produces a 5 ingredient product. It contains milk, cream, sugar, egg and a flavor (vanilla bean, for example).

If you're going to cheat on low carb - much better to eat the Haagen daz. The Mango flavor is to die for.

Also, Frito Lay offers a 3 ingredient potato or corn chip. Either potato or corn, oil, and salt. While still not healthy - it is a better overall alternative.

Reply: #19
19
Reply to comment #18 by Stacy in USA
erdoke
August 3 2014
Heated vegetable oils are the worst things you can find out there. Anything fried in or baked with vegetable oils should be banned.
If I had to choose between eating sugars in moderation or consuming heated vegetable oils I would definitely go with the former...
20
Zepp
August 3 2014
Partly hydrogenised oils is noting but transfat.. its only for pour people that dont care of there healt!

And its nothing that one want to give to ones child.. in any circumstanses!

And.. if it dont melt at room temperature.. is it not "arterycloggingicecream" then by the old dogma?

I think that transfat is more arhteryclogging.. anyway!
21
Reply to comment #16 by robert
Lori Miller
August 3 2014
I've been "truly low carb" for four years. I've tasted the chocolate ice cream before adding sweetener and putting it in an ice cream maker, and it's as bland as cardboard. And I don't eat fruit because it has too many carbohydrates and it upsets my stomach.

If you don't approve of artificial sweeteners, then don't eat them. Many of us don't have any problem with them.
22
Reply to comment #16 by robert
Boundless
August 3 2014
> Low carb it is, but I don't know about the sweetener.

Anything with any significant amount of Splenda may not even be low carb, in terms of not provoking blood sugar. Only the glucometer knows for sure.

> Certainly doesn't fall into the category of "real food".

Commercial ice cream rarely is. Adulteration of it 100 years ago was a factor in the creation of the U.S. FDA.

> ... I don't approve of artificial sweeteners at all.

Be sure to warn us if you get nominated to be Surgeon General. :) I do approve them, for people who understand the wider issues.

> These things tend to come out a chemical plant
> and may lead to over-consumption, because they
> are perceived as safe.

Yep. The fattest people I know always have a diet pop in hand, sweetened with aspartame. The main risks associated with alternative sweeteners are mostly related to what the consumer knows about sane human nutrition, and not so much the sweetener per se.

Even aspartame is preferable to sugar, but there are safer choices, like stevia, monk fruit, erythritol and (with attention to the GI of 15, xylitol).

Sucralose may eventually turn out to be a gut biome antagonist, and in Splenda, the dextrose and maltodextrin it is commonly padded with are both around a GI of 100 (same as sucrose, table sugar), which at least partially defeats the whole point of it.

> I wonder what your chocolate ice-cream would taste
> like without the sweetener, ...

You got an answer for that. Although it's theoretically possible to make an LCHF ice cream, without adverse thickeners and sugars, with a reasonable freezer life, nobody has done it yet for retail sale. The sweetener in particular is a big challenge.

> ... served with a couple of cherries.

Raw cherries are often pretty tart. Most people think they are sweet because the usual exposure finds them marinated in sugar syrup (now why would that be necessary?).

Reply: #23
23
Reply to comment #22 by Boundless
Murray
August 4 2014
Robert, I recently made strawberry ice cream with xylitol and it worked beautifully. I did the exact same recipe, except half raspberries and half strawberries, with erythritol instead of xylitol and the ice cream got too hard in the freezer, to the point it was impossible to scoop straight out of the freezer (unlike with xylitol, which was perfect texture). Unless substituting one-half of the strawberry with raspberry significantly increased water content, the erythritol seems to have made a big difference. I mean to experiment using all strawberry and erythritol. Sadly, local strawberries are past season now. Wild blueberries are in season now. Perhaps I'll have to do a side by side comparison of erythritol and xylitol in ice cream using wild blueberries.

Regarding cherries, sweet cherries even raw are far too sweet for me. Even tart cherries I find too sweet. My son likes them though.
24
Lori Miller
August 4 2014
"Although it's theoretically possible to make an LCHF ice cream, without adverse thickeners and sugars, with a reasonable freezer life, nobody has done it yet for retail sale. The sweetener in particular is a big challenge."

Indeed. The problems are taste and texture. Certain foods need sugar or something comparable to fluff them up; hence my choice of Splenda instead of other sweeteners I had around the house. It also tastes better in combination with chocolate than stevia does. Chocolate plus cherries or raspberries? Tasty, but you're right back to adding carbohydrates (and gastric problems for some of us). And they're not very sweet on their own. Erythritol is tasty, but it gives some of us gas and an upset stomach.

Just for some perspective, one serving of my chocolate ice cream has three teaspoons of Splenda. For anyone worried about sweeteners, may I suggest unsweetened coffee for dessert.
25
Jo tB
August 4 2014
The best soft ice cream EVER for over 40 years comes from a small family business called van der Linde in Amsterdam. Third generation family is now running the business and makes the ice cream according to old family recipe. It gets sold out as soon as it is made.

There is always a long line outside the shop of people wanting to get inside. Tourists have also found the shop and joined the queue.

this is proper ice cream!!

http://www.yelp.nl/biz/banketbakkerij-van-der-linde-amsterdam
26
Reply to comment #2 by Marci
Andrew
August 4 2014
HFCS is in many products throughout the grocery store from bread to sauce to cereal bars and crackers! Also in many products marketed to children. When my kids want something sweet I give them berries or pears or apples and sometimes sweet potatoes! Gotta be much better than fruit loops or pop tarts!
27
Corey
August 5 2014
I cringe when I think about all the chemicals and preservatives which must have gone into that. smc, that's just gross, remind me to never touch ice cream again.
28
Chase
August 6 2014
What caught my attention is that they used guar gum; that is great. It is a healthy thickener for LCHF cooking so that you can move away from corn starch.

it was mentioned so prominently in the feature that I hope it does not receive a bad reputation.
29
Sybil
August 22 2014
good grief!! ignoring the fact that corn sugar is just plain bad and gmo & guar gum has been reported to cause intestinal discomfort (gas & abdominal pain)...there's the issue of cellulose, gum or not which is totally man made, a polymer used in all sorts of non food items and extracted from wood pulp & cotton cellulose...yuk! Knowing this I would certainly give my kids ice cream less often but spring for the REAL stuff!

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