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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsThe Creepy Reason WalMart Ice Cream Fails to Follow Laws of Nature
http://www.alternet.org/food/walmart-icecream-doesnt-meltTechnically, ice cream follows the laws of thermodynamics, but what would you think of an ice cream that didn't melt on one of the hottest days of the year? Cincinnati station WCPO recently reported on Christie Watson's discovery that her Walmart Great Value ice cream sandwich wouldn't melt even in 80-degree heat. What's that? Ice cream should melt.
"I thought it was quite weird so I looked at the box and it said no artificial ice cream," Watson said. "So I thought to myself what am I feeding my children?"
Watson couldn't fathom how that could happen so she left out an ice cream sandwich outside again and came out with same results. Then WCPO reporter John Matarese did a test with a Haagen-Daaz ice cream sandwich, a Klondike Bar and the Walmart Great Value sandwich. After 30 minutes in the sun, the Walmart sandwich still resembled a sandwich, the Klondie bar melted some and the Haagen-Daaz was more like a milk puddle.
Dan Collins of 100.5 Kickin' Country in Sioux Falls heard the news and filmed his own test. The same thing happened and the Walmart brand held its shape.
DetlefK
(16,423 posts)Quote from article:
"The Great Value ice cream includes corn syrup, guar gum, and cellulose gum, which are common food stabilizers that help keep the sandwich's shape. "
Oil is liquid because its molecules are short and and only have weak attracting forces between each other. (van-der-Waals-force)
Fat is hard, because its the same kind of molecules, just longer. Even though the attraction is weak, the molecules have more opportunities to become entangled and that gives the edge on stability. If you heat up fat, the molecules start wiggling and untying and the fat becomes liquid.
Starch and cellulose are long molecules and they have strong attractive forces between each other. (hydrogen-bridges) That's why you can't melt a spoon of flour or a straw of grass.
Cellulose has the bonus that its indigestible to human colons. It doesn't provide calories and is pure filler.
Guar gum is chemically related to starch and cellulose.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guar_gum
Renew Deal
(81,801 posts)But good for Haagen Daz for selling real ice cream.
demwing
(16,916 posts)what's creepy about food starch?
yuiyoshida
(41,759 posts)Walmart near me. They are not allowed to operate in the city and county of San Francisco. That was a huge plus.. I don't think I would shop there if there was one right down the block.
woo me with science
(32,139 posts)There is an expectation of what *ice cream* means. This gummy, substandard replacement is not it.
The quality of our food is being gradually degraded for profit. There's a pattern in the industry of systematically degrading the original products and then bringing in exorbitantly priced "premium" brands (which merely reflect the level of quality we used to expect as normal), as an alternative.
Under corporate oligarchs, we will be a two-tiered society with regard to food as well as everything else.
xchrom
(108,903 posts)Javaman
(62,439 posts)Bart: Strike eh. Ow! My bones are so brittle. But I always drink plenty of.... Malk?