Ice-Cream | Animal Husbandry & Veterinary Science Optional for UPSC PDF Download

• Introduction to Ice-Cream Industry in India:
  • Ice-cream emerged as an industry in India during the 1960s, signifying its relatively recent origin.
  • Despite being considered a luxury food item, the popularity of ice-cream is steadily rising.
• Definition and Composition of Ice-Cream:
  • Ice-cream is a frozen dairy product created by blending cream, milk products, sugar, flavorings, stabilizers, colors, and incorporating air during the freezing process.
  • According to the PFA Rules (1976), ice-cream can be made from cow or buffalo milk, cream, or other milk products, with various permissible additives such as sugar, eggs, fruits, nuts, chocolate, flavors, and colors.
  • It is required to have a minimum of 10% milk fat, 3.5% protein, and 36.0% total solids, with adjustments allowed when incorporating fruits or nuts.
  • Starch can be added up to 5%, with labeling requirements for transparency.
• Classification of Ice-Cream and Frozen Desserts:
  • Plain Ice-Cream: Contains color and flavoring ingredients totaling less than 5% of the unfrozen ice-cream volume. Examples include vanilla and coffee flavors.
  • Chocolate Ice-Cream: Flavored with cocoa or chocolate.
  • Fruit Ice-Cream: Includes fruits with or without additional flavoring or coloring, which can be fresh, frozen, canned, or preserved.
  • Nut Ice-Cream: Contains nuts like almonds, pistachios, walnuts, cashews, with or without added flavoring or coloring.
  • Milk Ices or Milk Lollies: Frozen products from milk, skim milk, or milk products with additives like sugar, eggs, fruits, nuts, chocolates, flavors, and colors.
  • Soft Ice-Cream (Softy): Served directly from the freezer without hardening.

Composition of Ice-Cream

• Ice-cream manufacturers should avoid producing more than one brand to ensure quality.
• It is crucial to strive for the best product quality when manufacturing a single composition.
• Commercial ice-cream composition typically includes:
• 
  
  • Milk fat content: 10% for economy ice-cream, 12% for good average ice-cream.
  • Milk solids-not-fat/serum solids: 10-11% for characteristics, 11% for coliform count.

ISI Specifications for Ice-Creams

• Requirements for total solids, sugar content, stabilizers, and emulsifiers are specified.
• Specifications vary for standard ice-cream and fruit, nuts, and chocolate ice-cream.

Food and Nutritive Value of Ice-Cream

• Ice-cream is rich in fat and protein compared to milk, with high energy content.
• It is an excellent source of vitamins A, B1, B2, C, E, and niacin, along with minerals like calcium and phosphorus.
• Proteins in ice-cream are derived from milk and contain essential amino acids necessary for health.

Ice-Cream Mix

• Ice-cream mix preparation is essential before making ice-cream.
• Ideal ice-cream mix includes full cream milk, cream, and skim milk powder.
• Skim milk, unsalted butter, and other dairy products can also be used in ice-cream mix.

Sweetening Agents

• Cane sugar is commonly used as a sweetening agent in ice-cream.
• The primary role of sugar is to enhance the taste and appeal of ice-cream.
• Sucrose is essential for achieving the desired sweetening effect in ice-cream.
• Sugars are typically the most cost-effective source of total solids in milk.

Stabilizers

• Stabilizers are added to prevent the formation of large ice crystals in ice-cream, especially during storage.
• Despite being added in small quantities (around 0.5%), stabilizers such as gelatin, sodium alginate, and glycerol monostearate play a crucial role.

Emulsifiers

• Emulsifiers are primarily used to enhance the whipping quality of the mixture, resulting in a smoother texture and body in ice-cream.
• Examples of emulsifiers include egg yolk and lecithin.

Flavour and Colour

• Flavouring agents like vanilla, chocolate, and cocoa are commonly used to enhance the taste of ice-cream.
• Colorants are added for the visual appeal of ice-cream.

Details of Manufacture

• Ingredients for dairy products are carefully selected to ensure the final ice-cream meets compositional standards and legal requirements.

Processing the Mix

• All liquid ingredients such as cream and milk are combined in a vat, and heating and agitation begin immediately.
• Dry ingredients like skim milk powder, dried eggs, cocoa, sugar, and stabilizers are added gradually while maintaining agitation.
• Proper suspension techniques are employed to prevent lumpiness in the mixture before it reaches a temperature of 120°F.

Ice-Cream Manufacturing Process

• Preparation of Ice-Cream Mix

  • Mix dry ingredients with part of the sugar before adding to liquid.
  • Add stabilizers like gelatin after mixing with sugar but before reaching 49°C.
  • Jodium alginate should be added after the liquid reaches at least 66°C.
  • Frozen products should be cut into small pieces for complete melting before pasteurization.

• Pasteurization and Homogenization

  • Pasteurize ice-cream mix at 68.5°C for 30 minutes.
  • Homogenize mix at high pressure to suspend fat uniformly, preventing separation and improving texture.

• Cooling, Aging, and Freezing

  • Cool mix to 0-5°C after homogenization and age for 3-4 hours.
  • Add flavor and color before freezing, incorporating air for smoothness.
  • Freeze mix quickly to control ice crystal formation for texture and palatability.

• Hardening and Storage

  • Transfer ice-cream to hardening room at -18°C to set its shape.
  • Store ice-cream at -23°C to -18°C for up to two weeks.

• Percentage Overrun

  • Overrun is the volume of ice-cream exceeding the mix volume, mainly due to air incorporation.
  • The right amount of air is crucial for texture; too much or too little affects quality.
  • Desirable percentage overruns vary for different types of ice-creams.

• Packaging and Marketing

  • Ice-cream is packaged in containers for shaping and convenience.
  • Bulk ice-cream is often packaged in fiberboard cartons, while retail options vary.
  • Soft ice-cream is marketed in a soft state and consumed immediately after freezing.

Judging, Grading, and Testing of Ice-cream

• Score-card is provided in Table 28 which evaluates various aspects of ice-cream quality.
• Key items assessed in the score-card include:
  • Flavour
  • Body and Texture
  • Bacteria content
  • Colour and packaging
  • Melting Quality
• Perfect score breakdown:
  • Flavour: 45
  • Body and Texture: 30
  • Bacteria: 15
  • Colour and package: 10
  • Melting Quality: 100

IAS (M) Guidelines for Ice-cream Evaluation

• Inspect the container for type, condition, and any defects.
• Evaluate ice-cream colour, intensity, uniformity, and correspondence with flavour.
• Assess body characteristics by cutting the ice-cream and observing cutting evenness, presence of ice particles, and texture.
• Examine texture and flavour by tasting the product.
• Determine bacterial count according to IS: 2602, 1964.

Requirements of High-Quality Ice-cream

• Ideal ice-cream should:
  • Be packaged attractively
  • Have a pleasant flavour
  • Possess a smooth and uniform body and texture
  • Exhibit desirable melting properties
  • Display uniform natural colour
  • Contain low bacterial count

Uses of Ice-cream

• Direct consumption as a frozen dessert
• As a topping for fruit pies and fruit salad