Cary Frye, IDFA senior vice president of regulatory affairs, provided regulatory insights and analysis to nearly 50 ice cream enthusiasts and entrepreneurs attending the inaugural “Ice Cream Science, Technology and Supply Course” offered this month at Oregon State University’s Food Innovation Center in Portland, Oregon. Sarah Masoni, faculty research assistant and food and process development team manager for Food Innovation Center, organized the two-day course. It featured topics on technology, policies and trends relevant to ice cream makers to support the state’s growing commercial and artisanal ice cream sector.
“It’s an exciting time for ice cream in Oregon, where both beginners in the food industry and seasoned professionals are generating new interest in the ice cream craft,” said Frye. "It was a great opportunity to provide insights to this engaged group and familiarize attendees with the ice cream industry support that IDFA provides.”
Frye’s presentation covered changes in ice cream nutrition labeling, as well as new standards for serving sizes and activities currently underway at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). She also shared IDFA’s efforts to provide the ice cream industry with food safety resources and training.
In addition, she provided a progress update on the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) pending mandatory labeling rules for bioengineered (BE) foods or foods with BE ingredients. The final standards, which IDFA expects to be published soon, could require mandatory label changes for ice cream makers that use ingredients derived from BE crops in their products.
Attendees of the course came from larger operations, like IDFA member company Tillamook County Creamery Association, as well as mid-sized and smaller artisanal ice cream companies, a distillery and a fruit farm with an interest in adding ice cream processing to its operations.
L-R: Frye; Bruce Tharp, Ph.D., course presenter, author and owner of Tharp's Food Technology; Masoni.
For more information, contact Frye at cfrye@idfa.org.