While no food manufacturer can afford to ignore the health lobby, or consumers' expanding waistlines, "generally speaking, ice cream manufacturers have decided not to go down the low fat, low sugar route", says Colin Hunter, md at ice cream inclusions specialist Food Design. "Although there are some reduced fat/sugar products on the market, many manufacturers do not see the point in producing a 'slim' version of their ice cream - if consumers are watching their weight, they won't be looking in the ice cream freezer."
Hunter isn't alone in his view that ice cream is essentially a treat, leaving little scope for growing the 'healthier' end of the market. "When people buy ice cream they know it's fattening," says Jamie Clarke, account manager for ice cream at Tetra Pak. "Although reduced fat has grown in the sense that it didn't exist five years ago, I don't see it taking over the market."
But how do you reconcile these views with market figures which seem to paint a rosy picture of the opportunities in 'better for you' ice creams?
Cargill cites Euromonitor figures, which report that the retail value of reduced fat ice creams grew by 38.5% in Europe between 2002 and 2006. It also says 2008 saw an increase in low fat and sugar free claims compared to 2007. "Low fat ice cream is a segment experiencing rapid growth," says Yves Maltete, dairy and ice cream category manager for Europe with Cargill Texturizing Solutions.
So the opportunity is there. But besides overcoming the obvious hurdle of producing a 'better for you' product that matches consumer taste expectations, manufacturers also have to contend with the fact that for most consumers, ice cream still equals indulgent treat.
One company that has come up with an interesting approach to this dilemma is Unilever. While, on the one hand, it has taken a conventional route - developing 'light' versions of core brands - on the other, the launch of Frusi signifies a more radical approach which involves challenging the widely-held view that ice cream has to be an occasional luxury.
"One of our objectives is to drive more frequent consumption of ice cream, so we want to make sure that from a nutrition point of view, there's no reason why consumers shouldn't eat ice cream on a more frequent basis. We see a new generation of products that are marketed for frequent consumption, in which fat, sugar and calories are minimised, and natural, wholesome ingredients combine with the indulgent qualities of the ice cream," says Loyd Wix, product development manager with Unilever.
Frusi is positioned as a 'frozen snack, made with yoghurt, real fruit pieces and wholegrain cereals'. Wix says the multi-component nature of the product introduced several formulation challenges. "By using yoghurt to structure the ice cream we're not so reliant on fat, but getting yoghurt into the ice cream becomes a critical factor in maintaining the live cultures that are present. Obviously the conventional pasteurisation process will kill off any live organisms, so it has to be introduced into the manufacturing process after the pasteurisation step.
"Cereal technology isn't something we've historically used in ice cream. The main challenge we faced was instability owing to the low moisture content of the cereal."
With the fruit preparation component, Wix says the challenge was creating an attractive texture that wasn't 'jam like' and laden with sugar. The preparation is held together by a glaze made from acerola - a South American berry rich in Vitamin C.
Cereal and fruit inclusions might fit nicely with a wholesome product, but that doesn't mean indulgent inclusions are a no-no within 'better for you' products.
"Since inclusions tend to be added at a relatively low level, the need for reduced fat/sugar is not so great as within the ice cream base itself," says Gill Hodgson, sales director, ingredients, with Nimbus. "There is only a limited capacity to produce a toffee or fudge with lower fat and sugar and the overall effect on the nutrition is reduced further by the small dosage rate. The inclusion tends to be one of the indulgent components of these healthier ice creams."
That said, she suggests that aerated honeycomb pieces are well suited to 'better for you' ice creams as they have no fat added unless there is a need for a barrier coating to maintain crispness.
While indulgent inclusions are acceptable, those containing artificial ingredients aren't, says Hodgson. This view is confirmed by manufacturer R&R Ice Cream, whose group new product development manager, Sarah Goodhew, says: "We have tested a number of new ingredients but many have been ruled out as their declaration was considered more detrimental than the benefit imparted."
She says R&R has replaced most artificial or nature identical flavours with natural versions and only uses natural colours. "The flavours were relatively simple to replace. The main challenge was cost - many natural components are expensive and the dosage often had to be increased."
As for colours, R&R has started replacing annatto with natural carotenes. "We had a few challenges with colour darkening over the shelf-life of the product, but working with our suppliers we reformulated the carrier of the colour to make it more soluble and stable," says Goodhew.
Another colour that has been a challenge to replace is copper chlorophyll - used in mint ice cream. "We tried replacing it with spinach and nettle extracts but these gave a dirty muddy green and you could taste them at higher levels," says Goodhew. In the end she found that a blend of spirulina and safflower extract gave the desired effect with no nasty aftertaste.
Arguably the most important consideration for any manufacturer of 'better for you' ice cream is how to improve the eating experience of these products.
"How do you reduce the fat/sugar content in ice cream but still retain a creamy texture and flavour? That's a challenge that's been posed to the R&D community for many years and we've done a lot of work in terms of new ingredients and processes," says Unilever's Wix.
On the process side, Unilever says using cold extrusion to create a very fine micro-structure results in a creamier texture. This entails making the oil droplets formed in homogenisation very small, and freezing the ice cream at much lower temperatures to create small air bubbles and ice crystals.
On the ingredient side, he says one that springs to mind is inulin. "It's a material that a decade ago we weren't using in ice cream but that we're starting to use more and more for its ability to take up space that would previously have been occupied by fat in a formulation."
Inulin is also the secret ingredient in R&R's Skinny Cow brand. "When hydrated, inulin forms a greasy gel that mimics the texture of fat. We also use combinations of natural gums to add texture and body and slow down the melt rate so it stays in the mouth longer," says Goodhew.
The combination of Cargill's Lygomme FM stabilisers and maltodextrin C*DryLight is being touted as another solution for fat reduction, which works by correcting the decreases in fat agglomeration, water binding capacity and dry matter that are brought about by reducing fat.
"Low fat ice cream means more water in the finished product; water is responsible for many defects in reduced fat ice cream: watery texture, large and numerous ice crystals and a 'cold' feeling," explains Maltete. The Lygomme FM stabilisers are based on different hydrocolloids and emulsifiers to bind the water phase, while maltodextrins can partially compensate for the loss of dry matter.
While a reduction in overall fat content is seen as desirable, consumer knowledge of the different types of fats is growing, which means manufacturers may want to focus on reduction of specific fats such as saturated or trans fats.
Unimills has added to its Cremex series several new vegetable fat formulations with saturated fat levels of 40-60% (the fats in standard coconut oil and dairy butter ice cream formulations are usually composed of 90% and 70% sat fat respectively), but are said to deliver 'excellent creamy taste'.
When it comes to sugar reduction, according to Cargill Sweetness, one of the most important factors is to select a sweetener with a freezing point depression factor (FPDF) similar to sucrose, which is set at 1. Therefore, erythritol has too high a FPDF [2.8] to make it a practical sole sugar replacer, says Michael vom Dorp, technical service manager for dairy, ice and fruit, Cargill Sweetness Europe. However, when combined with maltitol, you can achieve some nice results, he says. "Maltitol syrups with 75% maltitol content, an FPDF of 0.85 and a relative sweetness of about 0.75, permit the manufacture of a lower calorie ice cream that still tastes indulgent, and can partially replace fat in ice cream without sacrificing mouthfeel."
Some of the ingredients that enable fat or sugar replacement in ice cream also have added health benefits, notably inulin and polydextrose. As an ingredient, polydextrose has been around for a while, but last June it gained regulatory status as a fibre, enabling high fibre claims to be made for products which include a minimum of 6g/100g polydextrose. "It brings the bulk you need for a sugar reduced ice cream and has only 1kcal/g, so manufacturers can formulate a low calorie ice cream with high fibre," explains Caroline Sanders, marketing director at Tate & Lyle's food and industrial ingredients Europe division.
It makes sense, but is this a step too far for consumers who still need persuading that ice cream can ever be anything other than a guilty treat?