Achieving White Ice Cream: Techniques and Implications

Ice cream is a beloved treat enjoyed by people around the world. However, achieving the perfect white color can be a challenge, especially if your ice cream has a yellowish butterfat tint. In this guide, we explore various techniques to achieve a white appearance, discuss the source of the yellow color, and highlight the regulatory implications.

Techniques for Achieving a White Ice Cream Color

To achieve a white color for your ice cream, you can consider the following options:

Whipping Cream: Adding more whipping cream can lighten the color as it has a white appearance. Milk Powder: Incorporating nonfat dry milk powder can help whiten the ice cream without significantly affecting the flavor. Cornstarch: A small amount of cornstarch can thicken the mixture and lighten the color. Titanium Dioxide: This is a food-grade whitening agent often used in commercial ice creams. Use it sparingly as it can be very effective. Lemon Juice or Citric Acid: While these won't directly whiten, they can balance flavors and may help the ice cream appear lighter. Egg Whites: If you're using a custard base, using more egg whites can lighten the mixture though it may alter the texture. Vanilla Extract: While it won’t change the color significantly, vanilla can enhance the overall perception of whiteness.

It's essential to test these additions in small batches to see how they affect the flavor and texture of your ice cream!

The Source of the Yellow Butterfat Tint

The color of butterfat is influenced by the amount of beta-carotene dissolved into it. Cows that have diets rich in beta-carotene, such as eating fresh grass, will tend to have yellower fat in their milk. Over the course of a year, winter butter tends to be lighter in color when cows are eating hay or rations.

Regulatory Implications and Government Involvement

There is no easy way to turn yellow butter into white without the government's permission. The yellow color you are seeing is carotene, a potent compound abundant in carrots. In fact, it is a precursor for Vitamin A.

In very advanced countries, each dairy product is very well defined, and the government would allow changes only in what you can or cannot add to milk or milk products. I vaguely remember the process of neutralizing yellow color in feta cheese to make it super white involved a lengthy approval process. In my common knowledge, the government does not allow any changes to the original fat in butter.

Laws are stringent in Canada, the USA, and in most very advanced countries. It is not the wild west to do whatever a processor feels like; inspectors will be all over the place. No way to take Carotene out of butter on a commercial scale. Carotene is fat-soluble and a provitamin, and it cannot be taken out.

In very advanced countries, the government has a major involvement in the dairy, food, processes, additives, and is fully involved in delivering safe, unadulterated, and properly labeled food/dairy/products. It is not a wild west to do whatever a processor feels like; inspectors will be all over the place.

Now the answer: There is no way to take carotene out of butter on a commercial scale. Carotene is fat-soluble and a provitamin and it cannot be taken out.