Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream to remove ‘all natural’ from labels

Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream will no longer call itself "all natural", in response to a request from the Center for Science in the Public Interest.

The Center for Science in the Public Interest (www.cspinet.org), sent a letter to Ben & Jerry's, requesting the removal of the "all natural" label because of the use of things like alkalized cocoa, partially hydrogenated soybean oil, and corn syrup in its products. Ben & Jerry's has complied, and will phase out the labeling. It will not change any ingredients in its ice cream.

Natural, of course, is a slippery term. Models who display the "natural" look have probably spent three hours in hair and makeup and may even have had some plastic surgery. Foods labeled natural can still be bad for you.

Perhaps this is why the FDA has no official definition for natural when it comes to labeling foods. The USDA, which regulates meat and poultry, allows the natural label as long as there are no artificial colors or ingredients, and the product is "minimally processed". The FDA, which regulates all other foods, has yet to define the term natural, so that's why Ben & Jerry's has been able to use the label all these years.

I never liked Ben & Jerry's because it was natural. I liked it because it was deliciously creamy and fattening, and because those little cartons are the perfect size to buy and eat when you're 26, live alone, and have nothing else to do. I doubt the customer base of Ben & Jerry's is overly worried about corn syrup.

I personally feel that natural is overrated. If I let my kids behave according to what comes naturally, we'd eat all our meals with our fingers while squatting 8 inches from the television set. Dogs eating grass and throwing it up 20 minutes later on your living room rug is quite natural. Bed bugs are natural. Just calling something natural isn't necessarily a selling point with me.

Amusingly, there are places where natural food is being taken to a whole new level. At Noma, a prestigious restaurant in Copenhagen, they serve dirt. Edible dirt.

I am not making this up. I don't think like that.

They serve dirt at Gilt in Manhattan, and at Marlowe in San Francisco. Each chef has their own recipe for dirt: Noma's is a mixture of dried malt and beer, and Gilt, already serving mushroom soil, is experimenting with pebbles made from frozen foie gras. Marlowe's dirt is dried olive oil.

Is it just me, or are we all getting really weird about food? The rich people can't just enjoy a plate of delicious food, they have to pretend its dirt. The lower, "starving" classes, are fatter than ever, and the middle class is so busy we just throw processed foods at our kids while we drive them around to after-school activities. And if you finally do decide to get healthy and pay attention to the label, you will find that the label is a mass of contradictions and darn near undecipherable.

Years ago at one of my son's birthday parties, we had "Worms in the Dirt" for dessert instead of cake. The kids make it themselves, which is part of the fun. You take a plastic cup and fill it halfway with instant chocolate pudding, then you crumble up chocolate cookies into crumbs on top of that, and then you put some gummy worms on top. You eat it with a spoon and it's a giant mess. It is anything but natural. But I tell you what, that was some delicious dirt.

Read Full Entry

Simple mint choc chip ice cream

Makes 1/2 litre

Ingredients:
300ml whole milk

75g caster sugar

Large handful of fresh mint sprigs

300ml double cream

100g very dark chocolate, preferably at least 70% cocoa solids, finely chopped

Procedure:

1: Place the milk, sugar and mint in a pan over a low heat. Heat, stirring frequently, until steaming hot and the sugar has dissolved. Remove from the heat, stir in the cream and set aside to infuse for at least an hour. You can leave it in the fridge overnight – which is handy if you’ve forgotten to freeze your ice cream maker.

2: Set your ice cream maker going. Remove the mint and pour the milk mixture into the ice cream maker. Once it has begun to thicken, add the chocolate chips. Let it churn until thick, then spoon into a 1/2 litre freezerproof container and freeze until solid.

3: If you don’t have an ice cream maker, you can make this by removing the mint, stirring in the chocolate and then pouring it all into a freezerproof container. Freeze for 2 hours, then beat with a fork to break the ice crystals, return to the freezer and repeat for about 8 hours or until you give up and go and buy some ice cream.

4: To serve, let the ice cream soften for 10 minutes. It should serve 6 people reasonably, 4 people greedily or 1 person guiltily.

Read Full Entry

Ice cream makes wishes come true

Kate's single wish was to create a one-of-a-kind flavor of ice cream. Cold Stone Creamery, in conjunction with the Make-A-Wish Foundation, made it possible for this 11-year-old little girl's wish to come true. The Make-A-Wish Foundation is a charity that gives children with terminal illnesses a chance to fulfill a wish, whether it is to go to Disney World, travel to another country or create their own ice cream flavor.

On Sept. 30, Cold Stone Creameries around the nation will hold their 9th annual ice cream social, known as "The Worlds Largest Ice Cream Social." This event is Cold Stone's way of participating in Make-A-Wish Month. Throughout the month of September, paper stars, which can be signed and hung in the store, were sold for $1 each. Denise Benninghoff, manager of the Dyer branch of Cold Stone, said all of the money raised by the event goes to the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

"We will likely hit 1,000 stars sold today," Bennninghoff said. However, according to Benninghoff, with a week left in the program there will likely be even more stars purchased before the social.

At the social, free three ounce samples of Kate's Creation will be available. Her creation is a combination of caramel-apple ice cream, chocolate shavings, graham cracker pie crust and apple pie filling.

This flavor was one of three created by Kate, Cold Stone Junior Tastemaster for the day, in February as she visited the Cold Stone Creamery headquarters in Scottsdale, Ariz. At the taste test, it was decided the apple-heavy recipe should be the one used for the social.

The social will take place from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at all Cold Stone Creamery locations, including the branch closest to PUC, located at 883 Lincoln Highway in Dyer. Donations will be accepted up to and at the social.

Read Full Entry

Western Family Maple Nut Ice Cream Recall – Latest Info

Deluxe Ice Cream, which is a subsidiary of the Matterhorn Group, Inc., recently issued a recall of the Western Family Maple Nut Ice Cream, due to the discovery of the possibility that the ice cream may contain traces of peanuts, although this fact is not indicated on the packaging of the ice cream. Although no complaints or illnesses with regards to this problem have been reported to date, this recall is being treated as serious due to the possibility that the consumption of this product by a person who is allergic to peanuts or has a severe sensitivity to peanuts could lead to a serious or life-threatening allergic reaction. The US food and Drug Administration (FDA) has been informed of this issue, and is cooperating with this recall.

The Western Family Maple Nut Ice Cream (56 fl oz packages) are understood to have been distributed to retail stores throughout Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, California, Alaska and Guam. The product which being recalled reportedly has the UPC code of 15400-22808, in addition to being stamped with the following data “Best By 07-23-11 Plant 41-48,” followed by a four-digit time code. Consumers in possession of these products are requested to return them to the place of purchase, where they will be offered a full refund.

Read Full Entry

Any Munchie Mocca? Pot dispensary finds niche in expanding marketplace: ice cream

Smoke a bowl or eat a bowl (of ice cream)? That's the question at a new medical marijuana dispensary, where half pints of Banannabis Foster and Straw-Mari Cheesecake marijuana-infused ice creams sell alongside more run-of-the-mill bags of pot.

There's no consumption on site, of course, but card-carrying marijuana patients have the choice at the new Creme De Canna in Soquel, Calif., of buying and taking their medication home to puff on or enjoy with dessert.

Proprietor Jonathan Kolodinski says it's got three flavors of ice cream now, but others are on the way.

"It's been my passion to make medical marijuana not only highly effective, but deliciously amazing," said Kolodinski, who opened his marijuana collective across the street from Dominican Hospital this week. "I've wanted to bring my product line to the market for a long time."

Marijuana ice cream is not new. Recipes have passed back and forth between pot users since at least the '60s and directions for an untold number of flavors abound on the Internet. But commercial sale of the product is in its infancy, and prospects for this and other marijuana products loom large as California voters decide the legality of pot, beyond just prescription users, this November.

"This is just a drop in the bucket, what we're seeing right now," said Steve Kubby, national director of the American Medical Marijuana Association.

Kubby, who is developing his own pot products like a marijuana lozenge, says legalization of the drug under Proposition 15 would only hasten an already growing marketplace for marijuana.

"A lot of people are coming up with all kinds of ideas about how to get cannabis into the diet," he said.

Before Kolodinski opened his dispensary on Paul Sweet Road, he began selling his pre-packaged ice cream at a handful of other dispensaries and earning positive reviews.

"People like it," said Nancy Black, aka Granny Purps, who carries the ice cream at her namesake collective on 41st Avenue. "First of all, it's ice cream — and who doesn't love ice cream? Secondly, it has a manageable amount of medication in it and you don't taste it."

Black says old-time pot smokers, remembering bad-tasting brownies of the past, have a misconception that marijuana tastes bad. That's no longer the case, she says.

"Everybody knows there are edibles out there. But people are rediscovering them now," she said.

Kolodinski says opening his dispensary was a natural next step for promoting his ice cream.

"We're now in a unique place to share our products," he said, noting that he'll soon add sorbets and vegan options to the ice cream lineup.

The ice cream, which comes in half-pint containers marked by a slick logo and marijuana leaf, sell for $15. According to the label, it contains "2 to 4 doses."

Creme De Canna is just the latest of at least a half dozen marijuana dispensaries and numerous delivery businesses and private collectives that have opened in Santa Cruz County, Calif..

County Supervisor John Leopold, who was not available to comment last week, is pursuing a county ordinance to regulate the marijuana retailers. He hopes to introduce the measure this fall.

Read Full Entry

Store sells marijuana-infused ice cream

A pot dispensary near Santa Cruz California is offering a fresh take on your basic banana split. Or you could look at it as a tasty way to smoke a doobie. For medical reasons only, of course.

It's marijuana-infused ice cream. And so far, the ice cream maker says his customers think it's totally dope.

Everybody who's tried it has said they absolutely love it. A lot of people come back for seconds, thirds and fourth," said Jonathan Kolodinski.

Some of the flavors offered include Banannabis Foster, Straw-Mari Cheesecake and triple Chocolate Brownie.

Finishing off a pint of this stuff is about equal to smoking eight joints, the owner says. It'll set you back $15 a pint, and only card-carrying marijuana patients can buy it.

Read Full Entry

Häagen DAZE: Medicinal marijuana shop in California offers dope-flavoured ice cream

Here's a new flavour of ice cream that you won't find in the Ben & Jerry's range - a medical marijuana dispensary in California is offering pot-infused ice cream. Perfect for a banana spliff! Crème De Canna on Soquel, LA - one of California's estimated 2,000 medicinal marijuana dispensaries - sells half-pint tubs of ice cream that pack a bigger punch than your average supermarket brand. Jonathan Kolodinski, the owner of Crème De Canna, says customers can choose from Banannabis Foster, Straw-Mari Cheesecake and Triple Chocolate Brownie. Mr Kolodinski added that there are more flavours are in the works.

He said he was offering the ice cream as a healthy alternative to patients who do not want to smoke medical marijuana - and so far, unsurprisingly, business is booming. He said: 'Everybody who's tried it has said they absolutely love it. A lot of people come back for seconds, thirds and fourths.'At $15 (£9.60) a tub, the flavours sound delicious... but they are not for the weak of heart. Mr Kolodinski said there were about two to four 'doses' of cannabis for each tub, the equivalent of smoking eight joints.

He said critics of his pot-laced ice cream shouldn't worry if the concoction was grabbing the wrong sort of attention, because - in the end - his goal was to help his patients. He said: 'We very explicitly label all our products with a marijuana leaf that says "Keep out of reach of children". We have been very mindful.'Mr Kolodinski also said that patients, who have to carry a card given to them by their doctor to buy the medicinal marijuana, cannot eat the ice cream at the dispensary. Fifteen states in the U.S. have legalised medicinal marijuana - including Alaska, Hawaii and Washington DC. California's medical marijuana industry - known as 'cannibusiness' - generates about $2 billion a year. The state has dispensaries, co-operatives, wellness clinics and even taxi delivery services.

Read Full Entry

Blanche Vaughan's perfect blackberry ice-cream

Blackberry ice-cream

Serves: 8-10

Ingredients:

1 litre double cream
200ml milk
2 vanilla pods, split in half lengthways
8 egg yolks
200g caster sugar
500g blackberries

Procedure:

In a saucepan mix the milk and cream. Scrape the vanilla pod over this so that the seeds go into the pan, then throw in the pods. Warm to a simmer then take off the heat.

In a bowl, beat together the egg yolks and sugar. It's even better if you do this in a mixer so that you can beat them until they become pale and thick. This will make a lighter, creamier ice-cream.

Pour the hot milk and cream mixture over the yolks in a thin dribble, mixing all the time so that the yolks combine without curdling. Then return the mixture to the heat, stirring until it starts to thicken.

In a blender or magimix, blitz the blackberries to a puree and pass through a sieve to remove the seedy bits. Stir this into the custard mixture and taste. Add a little more sugar if necessary. You want it to be sweet so that when it is cold, it still tastes sweet enough.

Churn in an icecream machine until just frozen or put in the freezer and remove ever half hour or so and stir well with a fork to break up the ice crystals. Eat as soon as possible while the flavours are at their freshest.

Read Full Entry

Pot Ice Cream Joins Gourmet Frozen Dessert Boom

Budding entrepreneurs in Santa Cruz’s medical marijuana business have come up with yet another delivery system for cannabis—pot-laced ice cream. For the more traditionally inclined, there’s TRIPle Chocolate Brownie, but there are also flavors like Banannabis Foster and Straw-Mari Cheesecake, for those who want a more fruity taste. There is, as yet, no vanilla based flavor, and everyone knows that vanilla is the true ice cream connoisseur’s flavor of choice, but as demand expands new flavors will inevitably hit the market.

The ice cream is the brain-freeze child of Jonathan Kolodinski, proprietor of the new Creme De Canna dispensary. He began by selling his ice cream creation at other dispensaries, but demand was so high (and customers too) that he decided to go ahead and open his own place. While his customers are limited to medical marijuana users, that could soon change if Prop 19 passes. Who knows? Crème de Canna’s newest flavors could be the trippiest thing since Cherry Garcia.

Read Full Entry

Eagle Brand Ice Cream

Prep Time: 5 minutes plus freezing time
Serving: 10-12 servings

Ingredients:

300 mL (1 can) Eagle Brand® Regular or Low Fat sweetened condensed milk
30 mL (2 tbsp) vanilla extract
500 mL (2 cups) whipping cream

Preparation:

1. Combine sweetened condensed milk and vanilla extract.
2. Whip cream in a large bowl until thick and cream hold its shape. Fold whipped cream into sweetened condensed milk.
3. Pour into 9” x 5” (2 L) loaf pan or an 8” x 8” (2 L) pan; cover well. Freeze 6 hours or until firm.

Read Full Entry

Homemade Ice Cream

Ice cream is one of those family tradition desserts that anyone can enjoy. Ice cream has developed so many flavors and styles (hard or soft) that it's become a global treat. No longer tied to simple vanilla and chocolate, ice cream lovers now have their choices of wildly mixed flavors. New age ice cream even has bits of candy bar, jelly beans, or strawberries embedded into the creamy dessert.

Before the advent of modern refrigeration, the ice cream dessert was available to only the wealthiest class of society. The ice was actually removed from frozen lakes and rivers and stored in large cutout holes called ice houses. The ice was brought to a large tub that contained salt that was used to partially melt the ice giving it that smooth, slushy texture.

After properly mixing enough ice and salt, hand held churning mechanisms were used to whip the dessert into a more fluffy, creamy blend. This was a laborious task that had to be done continuously until the right texture was created. After perfecting the mixture, flavors could be added to the ice cream dessert and served to patrons. The ice cream didn't last for long, but attempts to preserve the dessert were made by storing it in an ice house.

Presently, certain companies sell ice cream dessert machines for home use. The use of an ice cream dessert maker allows the user to quickly create the treat by simply freezing the machine, dropping in the necessary ingredients, and allowing it to mix until texture is complete. These machines are made to a larger scale where it creates the dessert at higher quantities and sold at popular ice cream shops.

Making homemade ice cream desserts is not difficult. Most people enjoy their hand made creation and even say that the mixture is superior to popular brands. The advantage of making your own ice cream is that there are no artificial flavors or preservatives added, so it makes for a healthier choice in a dessert.

Read Full Entry

Ice Cream

Ice Cream and fro-yo shop Monkeys is closing at the end of the month. Now before you go ape, relax they will re-open in the spring. For now cancel all visions of eggnog sundaes and hot chocolate a la mode sashaying through your head. “Sales have dropped off,” said co-owner Andy Jacobson, who also runs Brew’d Awakening around the corner on Market St. When the snow melts they will return as a stronger, sweet-fueled force. Baked goods, fudge and artisan chocolate are the treats on tap.

I loved what they did with the place, the cartoony murals, and their cupcakes — while untested by yours truly — looked cute enough to eat. Am I the only crazed ninny who likes ice cream in the winter? Visit NYC lately? Tasti-Delight is rivaling coffee shops on neighborhood blocks. The whipped up low-cal softserve delight is so yummy I lived on it for weeks when I was a latte slinging pauper in the 90s. In other DTL news we hear corner street bistro Fortunatos might be closing. Anyone know? I thought they finally got their game down.

Read Full Entry

Living Coasts Aquarium Serves Up Penguin Ice Cream

By Philip Knowling

Torquay, UK - How do you fancy a penguin flavour ice cream? Or perhaps herring and chilli? How about seaweed and sea salt?

These unlikely flavours will be available at the first ever Living Coasts Aquarium ice cream weekend on Saturday 4th and Sunday 5th September.

Events Coordinator Kate Hall said: “It may be the end of the school holidays, but this weekend will be one last taste of summer at Living Coasts. Ice cream is the taste of the coast – and we have some crazy flavours. Everyone should give them a go – you just don’t know until you’ve tried them!”

The new range has been devised on-site by Living Coasts chef Tony Perkins. “I’ve used seaweed because a gum extracted from seaweed, called carrageenan, is used in some ice creams as a thickening agent. The penguin flavour is made out of a certain brand of chocolate biscuits and not actual penguins.

There will be taste tests at the Living Coasts Seal Amphitheatre between 11:00am and 3:00pm on Saturday and Sunday. The ice creams will be served in cones or tubs. In addition, there will be a special seaweed touch tank. Other, rather more conventional ice cream flavours, will also be available on site over the weekend.

Tony: “I’d like to try fish and chips and macaroni - although both potatoes and pasta contain starch which means they can’t be used to make ice cream. Other flavours I fancy making are strawberry, chilli and pepper; lemon meringue; and rice pudding and jam ripple.”

Read Full Entry