Getting people to eat healthy food is difficult at times, which is why some products try to pack in extra nutrients to “trick” eaters into being a little healthier. To that end, a couple of different companies have set themselves the task of creating healthy ice cream products. The mission: taste like the regular thing, but pack in nutrients you won’t find in the average tub. The results? According to tasters, so far, so good.
Curious about the development of new food products and the fascinating world of food technology? Here’s a quick peek at two of the bigger names in healthy ice cream today.
“Halo Top” Ice Cream: A Low-Calorie Snack Set to Impress Students in Food Technology Training
Over a prolonged period of time, eating more calories than you expend will lead to weight gain. Unhealthy food like ice cream tends to include a lot of calories, which is why eating tons of junk food will typically lead to weight gain.
The main strength of Halo Top ice cream is that it offers far fewer calories than regular ice cream. It also packs in a bit more protein than most ice creams, meaning it’s a reasonably good snack for people doing strength training. In fact, writer Shane Snow documented a 10 day stretch during which he ate Halo Top ice cream exclusively (about 2.3 liters per day). The result? He lost 10 pounds and set a personal record in one of his workouts.
Halo Top pulls this off because instead of using calorie-heavy sugar, it relies on stevia extract for its sweetness. Stevia is a naturally occurring, zero-calorie sweetener, which helps to drastically reduce the amount of calories present in one tub of ice cream.
It’s proof that with a little knowledge from food technology courses, it’s possible to innovate on old favourites and make them a good deal healthier.
Using stevia instead of sugar allowed Halo Top to drastically reduce their product’s calorie count
Nutrice: A New Way to Improve Omega-3 Intake With the Help of Food Technology Training
Omega-3 fatty acids are associated with a range of potential health benefits, including promoting healthy brain development in children. Depending on a person’s diet, however, it can be difficult to get Omega-3 fatty acids in recommended amounts. That’s why the Indian government partnered with Dairy Classic Ice Cream to create “Nutrice,” an ice cream that doubles as a supplement for Omega-3 and Vitamin E, which helps protect cells from free radicals.
To get the added benefits into the product, Indian scientists developed a type of white chia seed rich in those nutrients. Oil was then extracted from the seeds and added to the regular mix of ice cream ingredients, although it adds a nutty flavour to the ice cream. As students in food technology training know, sensory analysis is an important part of developing a new food product. If the taste or texture is unpleasant, buyers likely won’t take to the new food, no matter how healthy it may be. Fortunately, the nutty taste of the chia oil can be covered up by flavouring used in the product.
Nutrice is set to be released within a couple of months, and there’s even talk of including it in school lunches in a bid to fight malnutrition.
Both Halo Top and Nutrice prove that with a little knowledge of food science, it’s possible to take a food that’s normally “junky” and turn it into something with solid health benefits. They even demonstrate that it can be done without sacrificing taste!
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