All about ice cream

For a product to be called ice cream it must contain no less than 10 percent milk fat and no less than 168g/L of food solids.

Standard ice cream has a fat content of 10-11 percent, and most of that is saturated fat. Premium ice creams have even higher fat levels – more than 12 percent.

Although the low- and reduced-fat products in our tasting were all called "ice cream", they were technically "frozen desserts" or "frozen confections" as they contained less than 10 percent milk fat. 

What's in ice cream?

The most expensive ice cream in our tasting – Kohu Road Vanilla ($18.99/litre) – had little more than milk, cream, eggs, sugar, and vanilla. But most of the ice creams in our tasting contained these basics plus a range of additives.

• Milk fat sources can include fresh cream, butter oil, sweet butter, whole milk, and other dairy products.
• Stabilisers and emulsifiers keep the texture smooth by slowing and reducing the ice crystals formed during storage. They also give ice cream a smooth texture by stopping the fat and water from separating. Egg does the same job in home-made ice cream.
• Artificial flavours are also common, but they don't need to be identified individually on the label.
• Artificial colours are usually found in novelty flavours, especially those with sweets or other extras. Vanilla and chocolate are the two flavours least likely to contain colours.

The air factor

Ice cream is sold by volume, not weight, because it has air whipped into it during manufacturing. The more air whipped in, the lighter the mix and the lower the quantity of ingredients per scoop.

Air is not a bad thing. The air (or "overrun", as it’s called in the business) adds to the smoothness and creaminess of the product. Without air, ice cream would be heavy and soggy – and wouldn't melt in your mouth.

We measured the weights of the products to see how much air they contained. The air content varied from 14 percent (Omaha Organic Berries Vanilla) to 54 percent (Tip Top Vanilla).