Ice cream sales are booming worldwide and the Middle East and North Africa are contributing to this growth. In 2007, Saudi Arabia witnessed a 6 percent growth in sales. And with temperatures on the rise and the days growing longer, it gets more difficult to resist buying ice cream.
Traditionally, ice cream is made with heavy cream loaded with saturated fat (the bad kind of fat). Some premium brands of ice cream contain more than 10 grams of saturated fat and 300 kcal per half cup. So you might like to try the lower-fat version.
Contrarily to what one may think, lower-fat ice cream can taste good even without the fat. Thanks to new recipes and developments in production technology, the light ice creams and frozen yogurts of today are a far cry from the bland products first introduced in the eighties and nineties.
Half a cup of low-fat ice cream usually has 120 kcal and less than 3 grams of saturated fat, making it a healthy option in the summer months. And where frozen yogurt is concerned, it should be known that frozen yogurt does not contain the same tartness as is in yogurt. In fact frozen yogurt is even creamier than low-fat ice creams. Half a cup of frozen yogurt usually contains 100 kcal and less than 2 grams of saturated fat. Therefore, frozen yogurt saves calories and a lot of fat. However, not all frozen yogurt is low in calories, so read the label carefully.
Three important factors currently characterize the ice-cream market: naturalness, innovations in flavors and the growing importance of diet ice creams due to concern about weight gain and too much fat. The most popular flavors are still vanilla, chocolate and strawberry but seasoned customers are looking for exciting refreshment experiences and want original fruit combinations. New fruit flavors include bilberry, physalis, star fruit, pink grapefruit, marula and acai to name a few.
The high fruit content of the sorbet explains its increasing popularity worldwide. This simple product, made of water, fruit and sugar, is a refreshing and thirst-quenching dessert that is low in calories because it is free of both fat and protein and has a reduced sugar content. Thanks to its high fruit content, sorbet is considered a healthy natural product full of vitamins, fiber and minerals.
If you have never been a fan of the taste of low-fat or light frozen desserts, you might want to give them another try. Many companies have changed their production technology and recipes to give consumers products that taste good and are good for you. Consumers should be aware that they cannot eat an unlimited amount of low-fat ice cream. If you eat several cups of non-fat ice cream, you take in extra calories and your liver converts all extra calories to fat, regardless of their source. However, low-fat ice cream is certainly not harmful when you eat reasonable amounts.
Make sure your ice cream tastes great
• Never allow ice cream to soften and re-freeze. When ice cream’s small ice crystals melt and re-freeze, they can eventually turn into large, unpalatable lumps.
• Keep the ice cream container lid tightly closed when storing in the freezer.
• Don’t store ice cream alongside uncovered foods as odors can penetrate ice cream and affect its flavor.
