This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies. Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility:

Millions of pounds of nutrient-rich ice cream are discarded after production each year, according to the International Dairy Foods Association. Nearly 5% of the raw materials used in ice cream production end up as waste—representing millions of dollars in lost product per year. This waste primarily comes from batches discarded because of quality issues and waste generated during equipment cleaning. Regulations aimed at preventing cross-contamination with allergens have also greatly increased the amount of discarded ice cream over the past two decades.

Researchers in Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences say one answer may be to recycle the ice cream waste. They found that it is possible to recover a large amount of fat at a potentially economical cost. Recovered fat could replace a pork fat called choice white grease that is mainly used in animal feed, or be transformed into compounds for use in pharmaceuticals, cosmetics and other products, the team said. They published their findings in Cleaner Engineering and Technology.

The researchers found that ice cream waste, which typically has a fat content three to five times that of cow's milk, doesn't necessarily need complicated treatment to recover its fat. Simple separation, particularly centrifugation—a mechanical process that uses rapid spinning to separate mixtures of different sizes, shapes and densities—with alkaline treatment as a possible aid, can do the job.

"Here in the Department of Food Science at Penn State, we have a close relationship with the food industry, so it was through our industry partners that we first heard about the magnitude of the ice cream waste problem," said study senior author Yi Zhang, Frederik Sr.

Source link