ShareStudy finds ice cream colder that it needs to be
Recent research suggests that ice cream manufacturers could use higher temperatures in their freezers and save energy without harming product quality
Writing in the Journal of Dairy Science, researchers at South Dakota State University in the US suggested that just a small change in storage temperature could help reduce energy costs.
Currently, the US industry standard for storing ice cream is –28.9°C. The International Dairy Foods Association states that any ice cream stored at the manufacturer or during shipping and distribution above that temperature should not be sold at retail. However, the new study indicates that this limit is too conservative. The authors said manufacturers could easily increase the temperature of their freezers to –26.1°C without putting product quality at risk. They came to this conclusion by analysing both full fat and low fat vanilla ice cream kept at different temperatures for up to 39 weeks. The ice crystals in ice cream were measured. This is because higher temperatures can cause crystals to expand, giving an undesirable icy texture, and a sensory panel evaluated the body/texture and flavour.
The authors of the study found no significant differences in the quality of ice cream stored at different temperatures – even at the highest level of -23.3°C. Changes in ice crystal size over time were no different at the different temperatures and the sensory panel did not find any variation either.
Writing in the Journal of Dairy Science, researchers at South Dakota State University in the US suggested that just a small change in storage temperature could help reduce energy costs.
Currently, the US industry standard for storing ice cream is –28.9°C. The International Dairy Foods Association states that any ice cream stored at the manufacturer or during shipping and distribution above that temperature should not be sold at retail. However, the new study indicates that this limit is too conservative. The authors said manufacturers could easily increase the temperature of their freezers to –26.1°C without putting product quality at risk. They came to this conclusion by analysing both full fat and low fat vanilla ice cream kept at different temperatures for up to 39 weeks. The ice crystals in ice cream were measured. This is because higher temperatures can cause crystals to expand, giving an undesirable icy texture, and a sensory panel evaluated the body/texture and flavour.
The authors of the study found no significant differences in the quality of ice cream stored at different temperatures – even at the highest level of -23.3°C. Changes in ice crystal size over time were no different at the different temperatures and the sensory panel did not find any variation either.