Ice cream stays 'pure'

By JOSIE CLARKE

Kiwis afraid their favourite ice cream could contain a dose of chicken fat can rest easy - the makers of New Zealand's biggest brands swear that they will stick to the old recipe.

Revised food-labelling rules, which could become law this year, say NZ ice cream will no longer have to contain a minimum of 10 per cent milk fat.

Under the new standards, manufacturers will be allowed to substitute water, vegetable oil or even chicken fat for milk fat. It can still be called ice cream as long as they include the tiniest portion of milk product.

Ice-cream maker Tip Top says the proposal could threaten NZ's international reputation for quality ice cream.

But Australia NZ Food Authority general manager Dr Hugh Baber says the code is about letting manufacturers meet consumer demand by reducing unnecessary restrictions.

To balance their new freedom, manufacturers will have to print the ice cream's ingredients on the carton, as well as in a nutritional information panel.

Frank Gilbert, managing director of Chateau Icecream, which makes Killinchy Gold, said yesterday that NZ's reputation for good ice cream was built around using high-quality dairy products.

"That is why we are so disappointed [by the proposal]. This has the potential to wreck that reputation."

Realistically, no one would use chicken fat, he said. But budget brands might use vegetable fat to cut costs.

"The main concern is people will be able to buy ice cream that tastes awful, and that might put them off ice cream entirely. That would be bad for our industry and an awful shame."

Aside from the milk fat from milk or cream, ice cream contains 10 per cent milk solids or protein and lactose, 15 per cent sugar, 60 per cent water, up to 5 per cent flavouring and about 0.2 per cent stabiliser and emulsifier.

Winsome Parnell, senior lecturer at Otago University's department of human nutrition, said the new code could be helpful if it let manufacturers produce healthier ice cream by taking out the milk fat. But Tip Top and Killinchy Gold were right to question whether that could still be called ice cream.

McDonald's spokeswoman Liane Donovan said the restaurant chain used only milk fat in its ice cream.

But Dr Baber believed that some soft-serve products were already made from chicken fat. "Most people would think of that as an icecream, but that cannot be called an ice cream.

"The standard does not preclude any ice-cream manufacturer from continuing to produce the range of products they are producing today. All it is saying is they will have to tell the consumer what percentage of milk fat is in ice cream."