Tag: Flavors

Be Cool With Ice Cream!

More than two centuries ago, Thomas Jefferson loved vanilla ice cream; in the present-day, it is the best-selling flavor of ice cream in the United States. Tried-and-true, there is simply nothing outdated, old-fashioned, or boring about “plain old vanilla”! Times change, of course, and changing times mean new fads and trends– some of which fade quickly, but others which hold out in their popularity. This fact is as true about ice cream as any other trend; and there have been many trends in what is made and what is preferred in ice cream ever since it first came to America. Attempting to assess and cater to the wishes of the people, ice cream manufacturers have come up with nearly-endless varieties of ice cream products, ranging from basic products to those which are more than slightly odd.

While there are numerous ice cream products sold in a variety of forms, such as bars, sticks, sundaes, and many others, the widest range of variety can be found in the basic in-a-box containers at your local grocery stores and in-a-scoop at ice cream shops. With the assumption that every person is different, and that every person desires newness and change, there is seemingly no end to the varieties which you can now choose from. Perhaps it may be thought odd, though– or perhaps not– that those who patronize such wonderful establishments as Baskin-Robbins 31-Flavors still have a distinct preference for vanilla!

One of the newest types of ice cream, although it has been around for awhile, are the “designer” styles. Mostly popular amongst the younger generation, attraction to specific brand-names is the main focus. Ben and Jerry’s is one of the most popular brands. Ben and Jerry’s best-selling ice cream, “Cherry Garcia,” is nearly a staple amongst the younger crowd. Some of Ben and Jerry’s other top-ten ice creams boast names such as Chunky Monkey, Coffee Health Bar Crunch, and New York Super Fudge Chunk. If you cannot find an ice cream that suits your personal tastes, Ben and Jerry’s welcomes you to suggest a new style for their consideration.

While the phrase “Dove Bar” often brings to mind a basic, albeit delicious, ice cream bar where the only choices offered are whether you prefer milk chocolate or dark chocolate coating, Dove also offers chocolate fans a tempting variety of ice cream flavors. Although the calorie content in Dove ice cream is a bit higher than in most of the other popular brands, you may still wish to indulge in such tasty treats as Triple Chocolate (at 340 calories per serving), Unconditional Chocolate (300 calories per serving), Chocolate and Brownie Affair (310 calories per serving), or Vanilla With a Chocolate Soul (300 calories per serving). For those with an on-the-go active lifestyle, Dove also makes its original and flavor varieties in ice cream miniatures.

If you crave a sense of “different,” there are many options which easily fall into this category. While you may be saddened to learn that Ben and Jerry’s Peanut Butter and Jelly, Bovinity Divinity, and Miz Jelena’s Sweet Potato Pie ice creams are no longer in existence, ice cream manufacturers continue to seek out the unusual tastes of their consumers and supply equally-unusual new flavors which will cater to such tastes. As “being cool” is frequently taken to mean being as outrageous as possible, you have the choice of such unusual treats as Mashed Potato and Bacon ice cream, Chili Con Carne ice cream, Tuna Fish ice cream, and Horseradish and Beer ice cream. Or, you can remain cool by conforming with the majority of the American population, and select the flavor which has remained at the top of the best-selling list for more than two hundred years: vanilla.

All About Ice Cream

Ice cream, America’s favorite treat, has been around for a very long time. It is believed that some form of ice cream dates back to 200 B.C. Folk lore has it that in the 1st Century, Roman Emperor Nero ordered his slaves to bring ice from the mountains to make his iced mixture with fruit topping.

Another form of ice cream was made by King Tang of China (A. D. 618-97). He combined ice and milk. From China ice cream was brought to Europe when, in the 1200’s Marco Polo had brought an ice cream sorbet recipe back with him to Europe from the Far East. The recipe called for the ingredients snow and milk. Ice cream was later imported from Europe to the United States where it was served by Presidents George Washington and Thomas Jefferson to their guests.

In New York City, in 1776, the first ice cream parlor was opened. The word ice cream was started by the American Colonists. They first called it “iced” cream and it was later shortened to “ice” cream. In 1777 Philip Lenzi, a confectioner, placed the first newspaper advertisement for ice cream in the New York Gazette.

When First Lady Dolly Madison was in the white house from 1809 to 1817, she served ice cream to guests. Ice cream was even served to immigrants as part of their meal when they arrived at Ellis Island.

The hand crank ice cream maker or freezer was invented in 1846 by Nancy Johnson. Today, ice cream is still made using the basic method of the hand-crank ice cream freezer. In 1848 a similar ice cream freezer, the Johnson Patent Ice-Cream Freezer was patented. By 1850 ice cream had become a popular treat. It wasn’t until 1851 that Jacob Fussell’s Baltimore Company began to manufacture and market ice cream commercially.

It isn’t clear who or when someone realized that mixing the cream in a small pewter pot inside of a larger pot filled with salt mixed with ice would lower the temperature of the ingredients. The wooden freezer bucket and paddles would open the way for the larger-scale manufacture of ice cream. Historians disagree on when the ice cream cone was invented. It has been said that the ice cream cone was invented in St. Louis, Missouri in 1904 when on July 23 Charles E. Minches thought of making a pastry cone and filled it with two ice cream scoops. The ice cream cone first appeared at the St. Louis World’s Fair later in the year where, historians believe, there were more than 50 ice cream cone vendors.

Historians also believe that before the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair, metal and paper cones were being used. England was also already selling edible ice cream cones. Another theory is that prior to the 1904 World’s Fair, an ice cream vendor from New York City had grown tired of customers pilfering his serving dishes, so he invented an ice cream cone in 1896.

In 1926 Clarence Vogt came up with a process of continuously freezing ice cream for the commercial manufacturing of ice cream. By the 1930’s ice cream had a huge increase in popularity and many flavors of ice cream and sherbets had become available.

By the 20th Century many flavors of ice cream were being sold on a large scale in grocery stores, supermarkets and ice-cream franchises. With the many flavors of ice cream available in supermarkets and eateries, vanilla is still America’s favorite and chocolate is the second favorite flavor of ice cream.

Nutraceutical Industry and Sports Nutrition

The role of food in total health care is not something new to mankind. The use of food to maintain man’s health is as natural as day and night. More than 2,000 years ago, Hippocrates, considered as the father of medicine, said, “Let food be your medicine and medicine be your food.” It is this principle that eventually led to the explosion of the nutraceutical industry.

The nutraceutical industry is concerned with nutraceuticals, that is, food or part of a food that offers medical and/or health benefits including prevention or treatment of disease.

All therapeutic areas such as anti arthritic, cold and cough, pain killers, digestion, sleeping disorders, blood pressure, cholesterol, prevention of certain cancers, osteoporosis, depression and diabetes are covered by nutraceuticals.

Products range from herbal dietary supplements, actual food components in dosage form such as capsules or tablets to beverages fortified with vitamins and genetically engineered designer foods, functional foods, processed foods such as cereal, soup and beverages.

Functional foods, the most popular term among consumers are modifieds food or food ingredients that may provide a health benefit beyond the traditional nutrients it contains.

Nutraceuticals is widely popular in the US, Canada, Japan, and Europe. The demand for nutraceuticals has been growing worldwide due to consumer awareness of the links of diet and disease, aging population, rising health care cost and innovations in food technology and nutrition.

Competition factors for the Sports Nutrition Market

Product/brand differentiation

Because of greater saturation and competition in the marketplace sports nutrition products look alike and sound the same. Maintaining a brand that stands apart from the rest is difficult but a thing to strive for.

Research-substantiated claims.

Consumers ability to make intelligent choices should never be underestimated. People place more faith endorsements by university professors and doctors and claims backed by independent research than by endorsements by celebrities.

Core products and strategies

A good strategy now is to focus development of core products or integrating with large food and pharmaceutical concerns (e.g., Powerbar, BalanceBar).

E-commerce

For small companies that cannot or will not rely on strong distribution relationships, e-commerce is an increasingly attractive option.

Basis for marketing strategy

The factors for competition stated above have been gleaned from researches of what consumers are willing to pay for. Overall, customers want:

Something New

Retailers and consumers clamor for “new,” whether it means new forms of delivery (gels, effervescent tablets, functional beverages), new applications of or combinations with existing products, or all-natural sports nutrition products that are free of artificial ingredients and solvents.

Excellent Tasting All-natural products

Consumers are also looking for products that taste good and are easy to take. Taste is a major feature that can either make or break a product. The hunt is on for manufacturers to come up with better and new flavors.

High quality and safe products

Regulatory agencies exist to protect the consumers. It is the responsibility of product manufacturers to undertake sound research and prove the efficacy and safety of their nutraceutical products. Products that are based on false or misleading marketing should be and are banned and condemned.

Through product sales and advances in research and development, the Sports Nutrition Nutraceutical Industry is now validating what was proven, early on, by the fitness and nutrition pioneers — sports nutrition products provide easier access to a healthier way of performing and living.

Equal Sweetener – What is it About

Recent studies have shown that too much sugar may be bad for the health. This could to lead diseases such as diabetes that could lead to the complications.

Since people still need sugar in the system but in reduced amounts, companies have decided to make artificial sweeteners and Equal is one of the popular brands in the market.

This product is marketed and exported throughout the world by the Merisant Corporation. The company has offices in the United States, Mexico, Switzerland and Australia.

The main ingredient is aspartame which is a substitute for natural sugar that can be mixed in food or in the persons drink. The chemical composition is made up of 50% phenylalanine, 40% aspartic acid and 10% methanol.

There are those who claim that taking this either through food or drink is harmful to the health but there have been no studies published in any magazines to publicly announce the potential risk.

However, there have been some reports that this can cause dizziness, headaches, weight gain, memory loss, anxiety and rashes.

It is funny to know that this is used on a variety of products and people dont really realize it. These products are breath mints, toothpaste, cereals and multi-vitamins that are all available in the supermarket. People have been taking this for years!

Equal sweetener can be purchased at the grocery. This also comes now in bars with various flavors such as Peach, Lemon and Vanilla Bean. This can be purchased in bottles, box or packets making this easy to have around the house or when going on a business trip or a vacation out of town.

The product should be stored in room temperature at all times and is good for up to 3 years.

Equal and the main ingredient aspartame have undergone more than 200 lab tests by various organizations. These bodies have been certified to be safe by the United States Food and Drug Administration and the World Health Organization.

Studies have shown that this can be mixed with tea or coffee more than once a day. According to one study, a person can drink up to 97 packets a day which is still safe.

It has been proven to be safe for those diagnosed with diabetes since sugar is also needed to maintain the carbohydrate count in the body.

The person can check with a dietitian before trying this product and get information from other brands that also provide artificial sweeteners in the market before choosing the one to use for the home.

Equal as an Artificial Sweetener

More people are diagnosed with diabetes which is usually caused by being overweight. If nothing is done, this could lead to further complications and death. The good news is that this disease is treatable.

One of the indications that the person is healthy is based on the sugar level in the body. Those that are too high can be reduced by taking one of the most popular artificial sweeteners in the market namely Equal.

The product has been exported all over the world and is distributed by the Merisant Corporation. This has been certified to be safe by the Food and Drugs Administration after passing numerous tests.

Equal uses aspartame as a main ingredient. This is also used by other artificial sweetener products such as NutraSweet and Canderel. This is broken down to 50% of phenylanine, 40% of aspartic acid and 10% methanol.

The person can substitute this for regular sugar in coffee or tea. This can also be used during baking or cooking to add flavor without the extra calories.

Is Equal absolutely safe? Yes. But there are those who claim that this can harmful to the body and people have experience dizziness, headaches, weight gain, memory loss, anxiety and rashes. No tests have proven this to be true since these are isolated cases.

Aspartame, the main ingredient in Equal has been used on a variety of products before it was made into an artificial sweetener. A few examples are breath mints, toothpaste, cereals and multi-vitamins which can be purchased at the supermarket.

Equal sweetener can be purchased in the grocery by the bottle or in boxes. This makes it easy to store at home and bring when the person is out on a trip. The company has made this available in the form of a health bar. The current flavors are Peach, Lemon and Vanilla Bean.

Equal has a shelf life of three years. This should also be stored in room temperature to maintain the quality of the product.

How many times can Equal be taken in a day? Tests have shown that this can be taken in more than 90 times in a single day. This is because no calories are absorbed by the body which is perfect for regular coffee or tea drinkers.

Equal can be used for baking and cooking. The person check out the website for a few ideas and read some magazines to make some healthy dishes.