Fishy low-fat ice-cream for Britain

Unilever wants to simulate protein from a deep sea fish to create low-fat ice-cream.

26 Junel 2006
MUMBAI, INDIA

Finally, an ice-cream that won't add to your waistline. A deep-sea fish from the North Atlantic is being used to create ice-cream with less fat and calories. GM technology can be used to create a protein from the blood of an eel-like fish called Pout. This protein can lower the temperature at which ice-crystals form which results in less fat being used. 

Unilever of Wall’s, Magnum, Carte D’Or and Ben & Jerry’s, has applied to the Food Standards Agency (FSA) for permission to use the protein in a range of ice-creams and frozen fruit-ices. The process has already been approved in the US. 

If approved, the fat-free ice-cream will hit the shelves not before 2008. 

Unilever will not extract the protein from Pout fish but will create the protein. According to Unilever, genetically modified yeast will be used to make the protein but the fat-free ice-cream itself will not contain any genetically modified material. There will be no yeast in the final product. The process would be similar to the use of genetically modified yeast in cheese where there is no trace of genetically modified material in the cheese.

However, many environmental activists are concerned that the company may be trying to push the product because it may be cheaper for them to produce ice-cream using GM technology. GM technology has been criticised a lot recently by health campaigners. Many feel that its not a good idea to move away from natural unprocessed foods.

According to reports, Unilever has said that they would like to provide healthier alternatives to people who do not want to sacrifice taste for eating healthy.