Mold Can Help Slow Ice Cream Melting
By Andrew Joseph, Features Editor
Food Safety BsIA protein slowing ice cream melting University of Dundee University of EdinburghNew additive might make eating ice cream more enjoyable but less fun.
We’ve all been there… wilting from the heat… spying an ice cream vendor… purchasing that ice cream, and before you can get it towards your mouth for that initial heat-quenching burst of flavor…
It’s begun to leak all over the place.
What began as a fun and satisfying leap into taste heaven is now a race against time to get as much ice cream in you, while avoiding the constant drips onto your clothing.
And then comes the brain freeze or ice cream headache. It almost makes heatstroke palpable.
Well… great Scott! Your problems may be over!
The University of Dundee and University of Edinburgh in Scotland have found a protein called BsIA that sticks to fat droplets and air bubbles in ice cream making it more stable… IE, it won’t melt as quickly.
While comedy might suffer, your laundry detergent bills won’t. As well, with an ice cream that melts slower, processors and those along the supply chain would not have to set their refrigeration units to a very low temperature, which will enable some energy savings.
Ice cream would also last longer in your fridge—you know those ugly ice crystals that form in your tub of Chunky Monkey?… well, it’s due to the unfreezing and freezing that occurs every time you remove it from the freezer to grab a snack—but now… no more ice crystals.
As well, by using the BsIA protein, ice cream manufacturers could make ice creams with lower levels of saturated fat… that means fewer calories…
The naturally-occuring BsIA protein is a bacterial hydrophobin, part of a family of proteins found in mold. Yes… mold. Apparently I could be making ice-cream in my walls as we speak…
The researchers hope (investors wanted) that BsIA could be a part of ice cream parlance and in a double scoop of chocolate chip within the next three to five years.
Cheers,
Andrew Joseph
Image from www.ThinkStockImages.ca
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