'Anti-freeze' proteins heading for ice cream

Unilever could launch “near-zero fat” ice creams and similar products in the UK in a couple of years thanks to the sort of ice structuring proteins (ISPs) that protect fish, plants and insects from tissue damage in extreme cold.

ISPs lower the temperature at which ice crystals grow and they change the size and shape of the ice crystals. Unilever has asked the Food Standards Agency (FSA) for permission to use an ISP preparation as a novel food ingredient in the UK.

The preparation would be based on an ISP derived from a genetically-modified (GM) yeast, said the FSA in a consultation on Unilever's application lasting until July 9. “No GM material would be present in the final product and the level of ISP in that product would not exceed 0.01% by weight,” added the regulator.

Unilever said that the use of ISPs would allow the production of ice creams with almost zero fat because the resulting crystals would maintain the product structure and the taste of conventional products, in which fat normally provides such functions. ISPs would also allow ice cream to contain more fruit, particularly 'super-fruits' than present products, said the company.

Unilever said that it already had approval for such use of ISPs, which it had developed in-house, in the US and Australia, and that products had been on sale in the US for about a year.

Meanwhile, the European Commission (EC) has proposed modifying its Novel Food Regulation 258/97 in part because GM no longer falls under its scope. The change is also intended to support more innovation and ease internal and external EU trade.

Some non-EU countries claim that the present subjection of traditional foods, which were not on sale before 1997 when the legislation was introduced, to the same rigorous safety assessment as new novel foods is an unjustified barrier to trade. The EC also wants to streamline approvals for novel food and allow a single application for other uses, such as flavourings and additives.

The EC said that about 65 novel food applications had been received since 1997.

The EC consultation lasts until August 1.