Adding fish oil to ice cream

Researchers at Riddet Institute have tried adding the emulsion to a variety of different food types to show the food industry that it can be used in a range of products. By adding it to ice cream, they have shown it can be added to frozen products.

Transcript

Amit Taneja (Riddet Institute)

Initially, we wanted to, sort of, investigate on different product formats, so the baked products – we tried it in muffins and it worked – then came the chilled products – which was pasteurised milk, yoghurt – but we also wanted to try a frozen product as well, and what better than ice cream, really.

We wanted to show to the food industry that microencapsulated omega-3 is not really for just one type of product – it can be used in a variety of products. So ice cream was representative of a frozen platform of inclusion, and what better to have it in a healthy format – a low fat added with omega-3, which has benefits of optimal brain function. Recently, there’s been a lot of interest in the cognitive function or the optimal brain function side of omega-3, so one of the target markets would be young children because ice cream is a big indulgence food. So that was the idea behind it – a project on including it and seeing what effects it has on the functionality and the taste of ice cream. We already did muffins and flavoured milks and then we moved onto ice cream and it worked really well, so the idea behind it was just to prove that it could be added to a range of products.

Acknowledgements: Crop & Food Research Plant & Food, Lincoln Pluggedinlib