When it comes to ice cream, it’s what’s on the inside that counts. That’s why many frozen dessert professionals are changing up their product formulas to respond to consumer demands for natural and nutrient-added products. IDFA’s Ice Cream Technology Conference, April 10-11, in Fort Myers, Florida, will feature several sessions on how to choose ingredients for high-protein ice cream and evaluate the impact new ingredients have on ice cream structure. Additional sessions will highlight the importance of observing ice cream meltdowns in quality tests and reveal new research on ice cream fat and consumer preferences.

Sessions

• The Halo Effect: Dairy Ingredient Selection for Formulating High-Protein Ice Cream
  
  Attendees will learn how to optimize ingredient performance in frozen desserts to make products that can deliver not only nutrition, but also flavor and texture. Kimberlee J. Burrington, dairy ingredient applications coordinator at the Wisconsin Center for Dairy Research, University of Wisconsin–Madison, will lead the session.
• The Role of Meltdown in the Sensory and Quality-Attribute Evaluation of Ice Cream
  
  The parameters for ice cream product development are being shaped by demands for natural and “good-for-you” ice cream products. These new parameters can eliminate some of the ingredients that give ice cream creaminess and richness. Bruce Tharp, Ph.D., principal of Tharp Food Technology, will discuss the importance of evaluating ice cream’s structural properties and observing meltdowns in quality-control programs.
• Research Update: Effect of Fat Content on the Physical Properties and Consumer Acceptability of Vanilla Ice Cream
  
  This session will reveal new research from Penn State University that examines what happens when the fat level in ice cream is reduced while increasing amounts of maltodextrin are added to ice cream products. Robert Roberts, Ph.D., professor and head of Food Science at Penn State University, who helped author the study, will deliver the results. 
• Ice Cream Structure and Its Practical Implications for Product Performance and Clean-Label Formulations
  
  This session will review ice cream’s structural elements and how they can be controlled through ingredients and processes to optimize for product performance attributes such as dryness, shaping and shape retention, meltdown, texture and shelf life. H. Douglas Goff, Ph.D., professor at the University of Guelph, Canada, will lead this session, along with a discussion on the impact of clean-label formulation modifications on structure and anticipated product performance.

Register here for IDFA’s Ice Cream Technology Conference.

For more information, contact Melissa Lembke, IDFA director of programs and partnerships, at mlembke@idfa.org.