Ever wonder why a scoop of ice cream takes so long to melt, even on a hot day?
Now scientist and TV doctor Chris van Tulleken has found out – and the truth is hard to swallow.
Because he found that most ice creams are filled with cheap, highly processed ingredients designed to give industrially made gloop the flavor and texture of traditional ice cream made with real ingredients.
His curiosity was piqued when he took his daughters Sasha, one, and Lyra, three, for a trip to the park on a mild day last fall and bought his oldest a pistachio-flavored ice cream.
After taking a few bites, she ran off to play with friends and gave the bath to her father.
Scientist and TV doctor Chris van Tulleken discovered what’s in a lot of ice – and the truth is hard to swallow
Dr. van Tulleken met Paul Hart, a biochemist who worked for the food giant Unilever for 20 years, who told him that most commercially produced ice cream “is just about price and cost” (file photo).
Dr van Tulleken extended his search to include a cheap brand of 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: ‘Your ice cream I saw was a shiny green ball of pistachios. It took me a while to realize that this was very strange. How was that another ball?
“The sun was shining and the outside of the bath felt warm. Something clearly stopped the ice from melting.”
At home, he looked up the ingredients for commercially produced pistachio ice cream.
“Some were what you would expect: fresh milk and whipped cream, sugar, salt, a tiny bit 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 extended his search to a cheap brand of ice cream, Tesco’s Ms Molly’s Vanilla, and found it contained an even longer list of processed and ultra-processed ingredients: reconstituted skimmed 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), flavor and coloring (carotene).
A naturally made ice cream, on the other hand, contains a limited number of “real” ingredients: namely milk, cream, sugar, skimmed milk powder, egg yolk and vanilla essence – plus pieces or purees of flavor, such as pistachio or strawberry.
Dr. van Tulleken met Paul Hart, a biochemist who worked for the 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, such as the oils and emulsifiers, mimicked the role of milk fat and egg in traditional ice cream, Mr. Hart said.
But he explained that the gums, glycerin and emulsifiers also prevent the formation of ice crystals, which makes the ice easier to transport without very low temperatures – and slows down the melting process in the bath.
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Crystal Leahy is an author and health journalist who writes for The Fashion Vibes. With a background in health and wellness, Crystal has a passion for helping people live their best lives through healthy habits and lifestyles.
