Frozen Dessert

Walking past a dessert shop and pulling down parents for getting an ice cream, kulfi or a sherbet would have been one of the most blissful childhood memories for most of us. But when it comes to business it is an issue of huge lawsuits and technical issues happening in the backdrop while you are buying an ice cream or a frozen dessert. An issue began in India the early 2010s between two dairy and food giants of the nation, due to a disparity claimed by the latter in Bombay High Court. Later Labelling was made essential by the food regulatory authority to mention the product is an Ice cream or a Frozen dessert.

FSSAI (Food Safety And Standards Authority of India) defines frozen dessert as a product obtained by freezing a pasteurized mix prepared with edible vegetable oils or fats, having a melting point of not more than 37⁰C or vegetable protein products, or both. It may also contain milk fat and other milk solids with the addition of nutritive sweeteners and other permitted non-dairy ingredients. The said product may contain incorporated air and maybe frozen hard or frozen to a soft consistency.

1. Components

Frozen dessert/ Ice Cream is a colloidal emulsion made with water, ice, milk fat, milk protein, sugar, and air. Water and fat have the highest proportions by weight creating an emulsion that has dispersed phase as fat globules. The emulsion is turned into foam by incorporating air cells which are frozen to form dispersed ice cells.

The triacylglycerols in fat are non-polar and will adhere to themselves by Van der Waals interactions. Water is polar; thus, emulsifiers are needed for dispersion of fat. Also, ice cream has a colloidal phase of foam which helps in its light texture. Milk proteins such as casein and whey protein present in ice cream are amphiphilic, can adsorb water and form micelles which will contribute to its consistency.

The proteins contribute to the emulsification, aeration, and texture. Sucrose which is disaccharide is usually used as a sweetening agent. Lactose which is sugar present in milk will cause freezing point depression. Thus, on freezing some water will remain unfrozen and will not give a hard texture. Too much lactose will result in a non-ideal texture because of either excessive freezing point depression or lactose crystallization.

The essential components for a frozen dessert are:

Raw Material. –

• Milk and/or milk products.
• Vegetable oils or fats.
• Vegetable protein products.

Permitted ingredients. –

• Sugar and other nutritive sweeteners (e.g. jaggery, dextrose, fructose, liquid glucose, dried liquid glucose, high maltose corn syrup, honey, etc.)
• Potable water
• Starch provided it is added only in amounts functionally necessary as governed by Good Manufacturing Practice, taking into account any use of the permitted stabilizers or thickeners.
• Other non-dairy ingredients – fruit and fruit products, eggs and egg products, coffee, cocoa, chocolate, confectionery, condiments, spices, ginger, and nuts; bakery products such as cake or cookies.

Parameter	Frozen Dessert/ Frozen Confection	Medium Fat Frozen Dessert/ Confection	Low Fat Frozen Dessert/ Confection
Total Solids% (min)(m/m)	36	30	26
Weight (min)(m/m)	525	475	475
Total fat%(min)(m/m)	10	2.5 < x < 10	2.5
Protein (min)(m/m)	3.5	3.5	3.0

 

2. Ice Cream and Frozen Dessert

The simplest way to explain the difference between ice cream and a frozen dessert is that ice cream is made from milk/cream (dairy) and frozen desserts are made with vegetable oils. Considering the fact in detail, a frozen dessert contains vegetable oil and may or may not contain milk fat. On the other hand, an Ice cream contains only milk fat and no vegetable oil as the fat portion. An important issue with vegetable oil if they are hydrogenated is that they are rich in trans-fat, which is considered unhealthy, and inferior compared to milk fat.

Ice cream and frozen desserts have come a long way since the first snow cone was made. Innovations in a variety of areas over the past century have led to the development of highly sophisticated, automated manufacturing plants that churn out pint after pint of ice cream. Significant advances in fields such as mechanical refrigeration, chilling and freezing technologies, cleaning and sanitation, packaging, and ingredient functionality have shaped the industry.

Advances in our understanding of the science of ice cream, particularly related to understanding the complex structures that need to be controlled to create a desirable product, have also enhanced product quality and shelf stability. Although significant advances have been made, there remain numerous opportunities for further advancement both scientifically and technologically.

 

 3.   Reference

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frozen_dessert
2. https://dairyprocessinghandbook.tetrapak.com/chapter/ice-cream
3. https://www.allrecipes.com/article/difference-between-frozen-dessert-and-ice-cream
4. https://food.ndtv.com/food-drinks/ice-cream-vs-frozen-dessert-the-chilling-truth-694000
5. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/227580162_Ice_Cream_and_Frozen_Desserts
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