Weighing in at 1,270 calories and containing 38g of saturated fat, eating a Häagen-Dazs Mint Chip Dazzler is the equivalent of eating a T-bone steak, a Caesar salad, and a baked potato with lashings of sour cream. Ice-cream is great, once in a while, but you might think it a bit indulgent if you were to eat the T-bone and trimmings, as well as this delicious frozen dessert, three times a day.
Ice-cream, however, need no longer be synonymous with sinful eating. In a study last year, 83 per cent of a panel of European nutritionists agreed that “tempting” foods, such as ice-cream, can help you to maintain a long-term healthy diet. It concluded that not only is ice-cream a good source of protein and the essential minerals calcium and phosphorus, both vital for healthy bones and teeth, but those who add variety and enjoyment to their diet are more likely to stick to healthy eating than those who rigidly exclude treats.
“Ice-cream is common to all food cultures and transcends class and age,” says James Lambert, the chief executive of Richmond Foods, the UK’s largest ice-cream manufacturer. “For many people, ice-cream has very positive memory associations with childhood, holidays, sunshine and good times.”
The Italians have known this for years. No sooner are they off breast milk than they indulge in their first ice-cream. Social networks are built around the gelateria: the palette of flavours providing the perfect source for debate. In Italy, Alberto Pica, the president of the Italian Ice-Cream Makers Association, has redefined ice-cream as a panacea, distributing millions of booklets on the nutritional qualities of premium gelato. According to Pica, it is that rare thing: a treat that manages to be healthy. “It is not only a good mood-enhancer but a food that can replace a meal,” he beams. Talking about a fivelitre (nine-pint) tub of his own tangy lemon ice-cream that contains 5kg (11lb) of fruit from the Amalfi coast, he adds: “It’s organic, full of vitamins from the fresh fruit, and contains only 145 calories in a 100ml serving.”
Back in the UK similarly healthy flavours such as ACE (made with orange, lemon and carrot — the acronym refers to the vitamins) are sold at Oddono’s parlour in South Kensington where the motto is: “Life’s too short for bad ice-cream.” All the ice-creams and sorbets are made in the kitchen and boast a low fat and sugar content (no more than 10g and 18g per 100g), with no preservatives or colourings.
According to the UK’s Ice-Cream Alliance, a trade association for the industry, the fat and sugars in ice-cream provide energy (milk fat is especially useful in that it contains vitamins A and D) and there’s more milk protein in a quality ice-cream than in the same weight of milk.
It may not be surprising that the world’s No 1 dessert option gives you a psychological boost when you choose it off the menu, but the fact that ice-cream can also have nutritional benefits may be harder to swallow. A huge amount of ice-cream is beyond nutritional redemption. The cheaper stuff is high in fat and sugar, uses whey protein, vegetable fats and butter, artificial colourings and flavourings, emulsifiers and stabilisers. The resulting foamy texture and flavour is a world apart in goodness from a vitamin-rich premium ice-cream, though both tend to be calorific.
Though the British eat just 1.5 litres less ice-cream than the Italians per capita (7.7 litres compared with 9.2 litres), it is only now that the quality gap is being bridged. With its growing number of small farm-based producers — September, Heslett, Roskilly’s, Hill Station, to name a few — Britain has a more natural range of ice-creams than ever before. In many cases the ingredients are organic: fresh cream, milk and egg yolk, and there are no stabilisers or emulsifiers. Where a small amount of skimmed-milk powder is used, it is to make up for less sugar. The resulting taste is subtler and less cloying than cheaper, spongy stuff. Many of these award-winning brands are sold at delicatessens and farm shops. And a recent Mintel survey shows an increase in demand for “super premium” ice-cream.
When Gina Hill, an American, moved from Brazil to Wiltshire in 1993 she couldn’t believe that a country with such great dairy products had a dearth of decent ice-creams. Her response was to make homemade-style ice-creams using high-quality ingredients from trusted sources. As well as cardamom and cinnamon flavours, the Hill Station line-up includes mango and passion-fruit flavours, and fairly traded Divine white chocolate.
“More people are reading labels and making sense of them. They find it comforting to recognise the ingredients,” Hill says. She points out that many manufacturers of inexpensive ice-cream use hydrogenated vegetable fat, also known as trans fatty acids, which have been linked to clogging of the arteries and heart disease, instead of cream.
Because ice-cream is sold by volume rather than weight there is one ingredient not declared on the label — air. “Cheap ice-cream contains half air or more; you can blow it up like a balloon,” says Hill. Premium ice-cream is dense and harder to scoop. So it seems that ice-cream has shed its knickerbocker seaside glory and gone urban chic. In the case of Morelli’s ice-cream, which has an outlet in Harrods, the transition has meant kowtowing to both health trends and unbridled fantasy. The makers of its new bespoke ice-cream range take into consideration dietary needs, such as diabetes and dairy and lactose intolerance, but also allow customers to create their own flavours.
Recent orders have included Parmesan and pear; gorgonzola and honey; and, to meet the craving of one pregnant woman, Marmite. Morelli’s gelatieri — professional ice-cream makers — also produced an Amarula (an African wild-fruit liqueur) and coconut flavour for the Live 8 performers.
Bibi Morelli, who gave up a career with a City law firm to work in the family business, believes that, unlike in Italy, ice-cream has a lot of catching up to do on alcohol as the Brits’ favourite socialising agent, but that it’s no longer seen as just a summer thing. “Our ice-cream is now being consumed year round by a cosmopolitan crowd that is more discerning and adventurous than previously,” says Morelli. “They are seeking a fresh product to eat now rather than to store away in the freezer for six months.”
The other big trends in ice-cream manufacturing are more low-fat and no-fat options. A frozen yoghurt or sorbet contains about 150 calories a serving, compared with a typical rich creamy ice-cream which contains about 300 calories per 100ml serving and up to 20g of fat. This can easily be doubled by adding the likes of chocolate syrup toppings and nuts.
New to supermarkets this year is a cheekily named low-fat iced dessert range called Skinny Cow. The product, aimed mainly at women and which comes in flavours such as Fun-nilla and Completely Mintal, has about 95 calories and less than 2 per cent fat in a 100ml scoop. Verdicts from a Times tasting panel ranged from “instant headache” to “yum”.
“It is not a diet brand; the moment you call a product SlimQuick, people know that it will taste like cotton wool. It is aimed at people who don’t eat ice-cream because they think it’s fattening,” says James Lambert, of Richmond Foods. Interestingly, sales figures reveal that 20 per cent of Skinny Cow consumers had never previously bought ice-cream.
To make Skinny Cow, Richmond’s food scientists transferred the technology that it was already using in Marks & Spencer’s “Count on Us” range, where inulin — a type of carbohydrate derived from chicory root — acts as a fibre, allowing the ice-cream to reduce levels of fat while maintaining its body and texture.
A more naturally healthy option from the frozen-food family is sorbet. Bottlegreen’s virtually fat-free and dairy-free sorbets are hand-made with Cotswolds spring water and include delicate flavours such as ginger, lemongrass and elderflower.
But, says Gina Hill, whose Hill Station desserts contain seven ingredients compared with Skinny Cow’s 25, and 250 calories compared with Bottlegreen’s 110: “If you’re going to have a treat, make it one worth the calories.”
Can’t be licked: how to choose the best frozen desserts
If you’re counting the calories, it may be better to opt for a frozen yoghurt or a sorbet, both of which contain only negligible amounts of fat.
