It's gone! Ice milk died when `low fat' was born

Aug 9, 2000

Kathleen Triesch Saul

Seattle Times food reporter

"Whatever happened to ice milk?" That was the question from a reader who missed it, insisting it was light, flavorful and not so cloying as its richer ice-cream cousins.

We wondered, too. Had ice milk been thrown over for something sexier, or merely changed names in search of fame and fortune?

The answer, it turns out, is yes, and yes.

It seems that ice milk had a fatal identity crisis in 1994, when the feds replaced the regulation that defined it. Products such as ice cream are considered "standardized food," meaning the Food and Drug Administration writes rules that define what's in them - whether you're in Renton, Wash., or Poughkeepsie, N.Y.

In the case of ice cream, the main issue is fat content. Once upon a time, the rules were pretty much an either-or situation: Ice cream had to contain at least 10 percent milk fat; ice milk, between 2 percent and 7 percent. But after Congress passed the Nutrition Labeling and Education Act of 1992, the FDA set about revising the rules to define "nutrient descriptors" or fat-content terms that were being tossed all over the place - namely "reduced," "low" and "light." In dealing with this variety of terms, the new rules kept the 10 percent standard for ice cream but dropped the old ice-milk rule in favor of the new terms.

Which brings us to the present. Here's the short course:

-- "Nonfat" means the product has no or inconsequential amounts of milk fat - i.e., less than .5 grams per half-cup serving.

-- "Low-fat" has a maximum of 3 grams per half-cup serving.

-- "Reduced fat" contains at least 25 percent less total fat than either the average of leading products or the company's own brand.

-- "Light" means the product must contain at least half the fat of the average leading ice creams.

Obviously, an ice-cream maker's marketing goals figure heavily in all this. At Darigold, consumer sciences manager Jan Roberts says the term ice milk isn't missed in her circles. It was always a hard sell, she says, because for many people it conjured unappealing images of milk frozen into little ice crystals. Though ice milk often had more sugar, it gained a reputation as grainy and rather wan compared to "real" ice cream.

The new terms make it possible to sell essentially the same product under the much more friendly sounding names.

Still, we all know that fat is what puts the "cream" in ice cream, and gives it that luscious quality. But nobody goes around advertising their ice cream as good because it's loaded with fat. Instead, says Roberts, they may tout their products as "premium."

So, once you check the label for fat content, how do you know which "premium" is richer?

Roberts says there's one other element that defines the good stuff. All ice cream begins as a fluid, she explains. But in the making, air is added much in the same way it is when you whip cream. The more air you add, the more volume you get - creating what's called "overrun." Generally, the overrun is 70 percent to 80 percent, but ice-cream makers who want to make more for less may go to 100 percent - meaning their product is equal parts air and fluid mix. Such ice creams obviously won't be as full-bodied (or expensive) as ones with a lower overrun, but you can't tell that from the labels.

Roberts suggests running your own experiment. Weigh a quart of your favorite "premium" ice cream against a quart of some other standard or store brand. The one with less overrun (air) will be heavier.

Now, deciding which one is "best" will always be a matter of personal taste, whether it's that old ice milk or one of those specialty brands. But what better time of year than now to do the research?

Kathleen Triesch Saul can be reached at 206-464-2209. Her e-mail address is: ktriesch@seattletimes.com.