Cary Frye, IDFA vice president of regulatory and scientific affairs, presented her 10^th consecutive lecture this week to attentive ice cream industry up-and-comers participating in Penn State University’s globally renowned Ice Cream Short Course. The course is the nation’s oldest educational program for ice cream science and technology and has trained more than 4000 professionals since it began in 1892.

This year 130 students are attending more than 20 workshops in the weeklong course, and two thirds of them represent IDFA member companies. The sessions cover specialized areas of ice cream and frozen dessert manufacturing, including ingredients and formulations, commercial processing methods and evaluations of product quality.

Frye’s lecture included information on complex requirements for safe handling and accurate labeling of food allergens in the manufacturing of ice cream in processing plants or in the sale of ice cream in small-scale scoop shops. She also addressed changes in ice cream nutrition labeling and new standards for serving sizes, and shared a regulatory update that included information on activities currently underway at the Food and Drug Administration.

“It was wonderful to be back to lecture at the Ice Cream Short Course with students who are just as passionate about ice cream as me,” said Frye. “This course directed by Dr. Robert Roberts, professor and head of the Penn State’s food science department, fills an important need for training the next generation of ice cream industry experts and entrepreneurs.”

View photos of the class on the IDFA Facebook page.

For more information about the course, view “Ice Cream Short Course” on the Penn State Department of Food Science website.

Members with questions may contact Frye at cfrye@idfa.org.