Any health guidelines regulating use of emulsifiers and stabilisers in local Singaporean ice cream? Maybe not...

In The Straits Times Life! mailbag (May 1) today, a perturbed reader sent in a letter (in response to this Sunday Times Lifestyle article) voicing concern over the use of emulsifiers and stabilisers in ice cream and questioned (rather suspiciously but accurately, I must add) whether such use REALLY complied with any health guidelines in Singapore.

From my knowledge of the situation and from what local ice cream manufacturers tell me how they function, I do not know of any entity, organisation or health authority that oversees the precise use of emulsifiers or stabilisers in locally produced ice cream.

There is, perhaps, ONLY self-regulation in the local ice cream industry when it comes to using emulsifiers and stabilisers to make ice cream. And there is, perhaps, as the reader pointed out, a point of contention here to be made.

And here's why:

Most (though not all) local ice cream parlours get their supply of ice cream mixes or bases from local distributors (who presumably got it from overseas because no one in Singapore really manufactures their own brand of ice cream mixes or bases). These local distributors of imported ice cream mixes and bases would then prescribe the recommeded quantity and ways of using ice cream mixes and bases along with the use of additional stabilisers, for example.

[Note: An ice cream mix or base usually requires liquids such as water, milk and cream and some flavour added to churn into ice cream. Usually these mixes or bases are powdered, soluble and pre-packed. So, not all ice cream is made with egg, milk, cream and sugar combination.]

So, say, if a local ice cream maker decides to add a bit more stabilisers to ice cream to make it stickier and less runny or to create a sticky chewy chocolate flavour laden with stabilisers (such a flavour is usually a marketing ploy), there is no one on God's green Earth (or in Singapore) who can stop him.

It is true that substances such as stabilisers have undergone stringent tests overseas, particularly by established organisations such as the Food and Drug Administration of the United States of America (FDA), but the proportion of stabilisers ACTUALLY USED in locally manufactured ice cream cannot be monitored.

So there is definitely a possibility that the amount ultimately added might exceed what is recommended.

But about the argument whether substances such as stabilisers make ice cream less safe to eat carries any water, I'm not too sure. This is because you still need to consider stabiliser-heavy ice cream in the larger scheme of things.

Ask yourself this: So should we be worried about excessive use of stabilisers in particular? Well, there are many other things in life that can kill you: Bad driving pratices, smoking, drinking or marrying an abusive spouse. And many other things along the way. And where does stabilisers figure in all of these? Probably pretty low down the priority list.

But if you can help it, do yourself a favour and ask the next ice cream maker (politely) whether he or she adds additional substances such as stabilisers to their ice cream.

If you don't like what you hear, run away.

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Ice cream danger?

I was perturbed by the article on slow melting ice cream (How Fast Should Ice Cream Melt? LifeStyle, April 25). The article said manufacturers added emulsifiers and stabilisers to the ice cream to prevent it from melting and the amount of stabilisers used comply with health guidelines, so it is safe to eat. Is it really?

Nandini Anandraj Jain