Ice cream without any saturated fat on verge of becoming reality

Dreams do come true 

Chelsea Ritschel
in New York
Thursday 28 December 2017 17:16 GMT
Comments

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Imagine a world where ice-cream was healthy.

Well, it turns out the future of ice-cream is upon us - because one researcher at the University of Copenhagen is close to replacing saturated fat with unsaturated fat in our favourite summer treat.

Saturated fat - abundant in ice-cream - raises cholesterol, which is linked to heart disease and strokes.

But when researcher Merete Bøgelund Munk’s perfects her newest creation, these health issues will no longer be associated with ice-cream.

According to Munk, her goal is to make ice-cream with unsaturated fat oil droplets, which are turned into solid fat by “adding some structuring molecules,” - which is pretty amazing to watch.

Once Munk is successful in switching out saturated fat in ice cream both you and the earth will be grateful.

Currently saturated fats, like those found in coconut and palm oil, have to be shipped from the tropics - and the environmental harm of producing palm oil is well-known.

(Reuters)
(Reuters)

With Munk’s ice-cream, manufacturers would be able to choose oil grown locally, meaning more options for them and less harmful effects on the environment. And ice-cream you can eat guilt-free.

And the research has not gone unnoticed - Munk’s experiments are being carried out in conjunction with AAK, an oil producing giant based in Sweden - and may be commercialised once Munk’s technique is perfected and flavours have been added.

Unsaturated fat means less harmful palm oil production
Unsaturated fat means less harmful palm oil production

Who else can't wait to try it?

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in