It generally also has:[65]

12 to 16% sweeteners: usually a combination of sucrose and glucose-based corn syrup sweeteners

0.2 to 0.5% stabilizers and emulsifiers

55 to 64% water, which comes from the milk or other ingredients.

These compositions are percentage by weight. Since ice cream can contain as much as half air by
volume, these numbers may be reduced by as much as half if cited by volume. In terms of dietary
considerations, the percentages by weight are more relevant. Even low-fat products have high caloric
content: Ben and Jerry's No-Fat Vanilla Fudge, for instance, contains 150 calories (630 kJ) per half-cup
due to its high sugar content.[66]

According to the Canadian Food and Drugs Act and Regulations, ice cream in Canada is divided into "Ice
cream mix" and "Ice cream". Each have a different set of regulations.[67]

"Ice cream" must be at least 10 percent milk fat, and must contain at least 180 grams (6.3 oz) of solids
per litre. When cocoa, chocolate syrup, fruit, nuts, or confections are added, the percentage of milk fat
can be 8 percent.[68]

"Ice cream mix" is defined as the pasteurized mix of cream, milk and other milk products that are not yet
frozen.[67] It may contain eggs, artificial or non-artificial flavours, cocoa or chocolate syrup, a food
colour, an agent that adjusts the pH level in the mix, salt, a stabilizing agent that does not exceed 0.5%
of the ice cream mix, a sequestering agent which preserves the food colour, edible casein that does not
exceed 1% of the mix, propylene glycol mono fatty acids in an amount that will not exceed 0.35% of the
ice cream mix, and sorbitan tristearate in an amount that will not exceed 0.035% of the mix.[67] Ice
cream mix may not include less than 36% solid components.[67]

Physical properties

Ice cream sandwich

Ice cream is considered a colloidal system. It is composed by ice cream crystals and aggregates, air that
does not mix with the ice cream by forming small bubbles in the bulk and partially coalesced fat
globules. This dispersed phase made from all the small particles is surrounded by an unfrozen
continuous phase composed by sugars, proteins, salts, polysaccharides and water. Their interactions
determine the properties of ice cream, whether soft and whippy or hard.[69]

Ostwald ripening

Chocolate-glazed Magnum ice cream bar

Ostwald ripening is the explanation for the growth of large crystals at the expense of small ones in the
dispersion phase. This process is also called migratory recrystallization. It involves the formation of sharp
crystals. Theories about Ostwald recrystallization admit that after a period of time, the recrystallization
process can be described by the following equation:

�=�(0)+��exp⁡(1/�)
Where r (0) is the initial size, n the order of recrystallization, and t a time constant for recrystallization
that depends on the rate R (in units of size/time).

To make ice cream smooth, recrystallization must occur as slowly as possible, because small crystals
create smoothness, meaning that r must decrease.[70]

Food safety concerns

From the perspective of food chemistry, ice cream is a colloid or foam. The dietary emulsifier plays an
important role in ice cream. Soy lecithin and polysorbate are two popular emulsifiers used for ice cream
production. A mouse study in 2015 shows that two commonly used dietary emulsifiers carboxymethyl
cellulose (CMC) and polysorbate 80 (P80) can potentially cause inflammatory bowel diseases, weight
gain, and other metabolic syndromes.[71]

Around the world

Main article: List of ice cream varieties by country

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Around the world, different cultures have developed unique versions of ice cream, suiting the product to
local tastes and preferences.

Italian ice cream, gelato, in Rome, Italy

The most traditional Argentine helado (ice cream) is very similar to Italian gelato, in large part due to the
historical influence of Italian immigrants on Argentinian customs.

Per capita, Australians and New Zealanders are among the leading ice cream consumers in the world,
eating 18 litres (4.0 imp gal; 4.8 US gal) and 20 litres (4.4 imp gal; 5.3 US gal) each per year respectively,
behind the United States where people eat 23 litres (5.1 imp gal; 6.1 US gal) each per year.[72]

In China, besides the popular flavours such as vanilla, chocolate, coffee, mango and strawberry, many
Chinese ice-cream manufacturers have also introduced other traditional Chinese flavours such as black
sesame and red bean.

In Iran, a popular ice cream-like treat is fālūde (also called paloodeh, paludeh or fālūdhaj), which
contains vermicelli noodles, sugar syrup and rose water. It is often served with lime juice and sometimes
ground pistachios.

In Greece, ice cream in its modern form, or pagotó (Greek: παγωτό), was introduced in the beginning of
the 20th century.

India is one of the largest producers of ice cream in the world, but most of its ice cream is consumed
domestically. One of their most well-known ice creams is the kulfi available in both usual and local
flavours like mango, rose, badam (almond), strawberry, kesar (saffron), pistachio, chocolate and can
contain nuts, rose petals, saffron stalks, and pieces of other sweets like rabdri and gulab jamun.
Golas are summer treat consisting of shaved ice packed into a popsicle form on a stick and soaked in
flavoured sugar syrup, a popular choice being kala khatta, made from the sweet and sour jamun fruit.
[73]

In Indonesia, a type of traditional ice cream called es puter or "stirred ice cream" is made from coconut
milk, pandanus leaves, sugar—and flavors that include avocado, jackfruit, durian, palm sugar, chocolate,
red bean, and mung bean.

In Iran, fālūdeh (Persian: ‫ )فالوده‬or pālūde (Persian: ‫ )پالوده‬is a Persian sorbet made of thin vermicelli
noodles, frozen with sugar syrup and rose water. The dessert is often served with lime juice and
sometimes ground pistachios.

Italian ice cream, or gelato as it is known, is a traditional and popular dessert in Italy. Much of the
production is still hand-made and flavoured by each individual shop in "produzione propria" gelaterias.
Gelato is made from whole milk, sugar, sometimes eggs, and natural flavourings. Gelato typically
contains 7–8% fat, less than ice cream's minimum of 10%.

Sorbetes is a Philippine version of common ice cream usually peddled from carts by peddlers who roam
streets in the Philippines. Despite the similarities between the name sorbetes and sorbet, sorbetes is not
a type of sorbet.

In Spain, ice cream is often in the style of Italian gelato. Spanish helado can be found in many cafés or
speciality ice cream stores. While many traditional flavours are sold, cafés may also sell flavours like
nata, viola, crema catalana, or tiramisu. In the 1980s, the Spanish industry was known for creating many
creative and weird ice cream bars.[74]

In Syria, there is a traditional ice cream called Booza. It is made by freezing dairy milk with mastic and
sahlab (salep), giving it a distinctive stretchy and chewy texture.

Dondurma is the name given to ice cream in Turkey. Dondurma typically includes milk, sugar, salep
(orchid powder), and mastic.

In the United Kingdom, 14 million adults buy ice cream as a treat, in a market worth £1.3 billion
(according to a report produced in September 2009).[75]

In the United States, ice cream made with just cream, sugar, and a flavouring (usually fruit) is sometimes
referred to as "Philadelphia style"[76] ice cream. Ice cream that uses eggs to make a custard is
sometimes called "French ice cream". American federal labelling standards require ice cream to contain
a minimum of 10% milk fat. Americans consume about 23 litres of ice cream per person per year—the
most in the world. According to the NPD Group, the most popular ice cream flavours in the U.S. are
vanilla and chocolate with a combined market share of 40% as of 2008.[77]

Cones

Main article: Ice cream cone

A green tea ice cream cone

Mrs A.B.Marshall's Cookery Book, published in 1888,[78] endorsed serving ice cream in cones.[79] Agnes
Marshall was a celebrated cookery writer of her day and helped to popularize ice cream. She patented
and manufactured an ice cream maker and was the first to suggest using liquefied gases to freeze ice
cream after seeing a demonstration at the Royal Institution.

Reliable evidence proves that ice cream cones were served in the 19th century, and their popularity
increased greatly during the St. Louis World's Fair in 1904. According to legend, an ice cream vendor at
the fair ran out of cardboard dishes. The vendor at the Syrian waffle booth next door, unsuccessful in
the intense heat, offered to make cones by rolling up his waffles. The new product sold well and was
widely copied by other vendors.[80][81]

Cryogenics

A bowl of Dippin' Dots Rainbow Ice ice cream

In 2006, some commercial ice cream makers began to use liquid nitrogen in the primary freezing of ice
cream, thus eliminating the need for a conventional ice cream freezer.[82] The preparation results in a
column of white condensed water vapour cloud. The ice cream, dangerous to eat while still "steaming"
with liquid nitrogen, is allowed to rest until the liquid nitrogen is completely vaporized. Sometimes ice
cream is frozen to the sides of the container, and must be allowed to thaw. Good results can also be
achieved with the more readily available dry ice, and authors such as Heston Blumenthal have published
recipes to produce ice cream and sorbet using a simple blender.[83]

See also

Cold-stimulus headache

Ice cream social

List of dairy products

List of desserts

List of ice cream brands

List of ice cream flavors

Milkshake (a blended mix of ice cream, milk and syrups)

Nancy Maria Donaldson Johnson

Soft serve

Food portal

Notes

^ Not to be confused with the small-batch ice cream business Nice Cream.

References

^ "Ice Cream Labeling: What Does it all Mean?". International Foodservice Distributors Association.
Archived from the original on 14 May 2008. Retrieved 9 August 2008.
^ "Ice Cream's Identity Crisis". The New York Times. 17 April 2013. Archived from the original on 2
January 2017. Retrieved 1 January 2017.