MADISON, Wis. (Ivanhoe Newswire) -- People in the U.S. eat more ice cream than any other country in the world. The average American consumes about 24 quarts of ice cream a year. But, if you buy a lot of ice cream, you know that freezer burn or ice crystals can ruin the flavor and creaminess of your favorite treat.
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Whichever flavor you like best, ice cream is a favorite for kids of all ages. But when it comes to ice cream, ice isn't such a good thing, especially when it forms on the inside of the container.
"Ice crystals when they grow they change the texture of ice cream, it gives you some gritty sensation in your mouth, and that is not very desirable," Srinivasan Damodaran, Ph.D., food scientist at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, told Ivanhoe.
Now Dr. Damodaran and his colleagues think they've found a solution. It's an odorless, tasteless natural protein called gelatin hydrolysate.h
Added to ice cream, food chemists say it works like edible antifreeze. Here you see the ice crystals that normally form in ice cream … but when the protein is added, it prevents those large crystals from forming. Chemistry that could make ice cream taste better and last longer.
"You can take ice cream and store it in your freezer. You can store it for four months, don't have to worry about ice crystal growth, don't have to worry about throwing them out after a couple of weeks," Dr. Damodaran said.
Dr. Damodaran says manufacturers are already taking an interest. "This is a very safe product, and it doesn't require even the FDA's approval to implement the technology," Dr. Damodaran said.
And that means it could be coming soon to a cone near you.
The Materials Research Society contributed to the information contained in the TV portion of this report.
