[The Epoch Times, July 15, 2022](Comprehensive report by Li Bei, reporter of the major feature department) Ice cream, which melts when heated, should be stored in the refrigerator. However, there is an ice cream in China that does not melt when grilled. This has raised concerns about food safety.
“Zhong Xue Gao” is a very expensive ice cream in China, the price is close to the sales price of Haagen-Dazs in China. On June 25 this year, a consumer posted a short video. In the video, Zhong Xue Gao Coconut Coconut Sea Salt Flavor Ice Cream, which had just been opened in plastic packaging, was placed in a high temperature environment of 31°C for 1 hour. The ice cream did not seem to melt much and its shape remained well. After that, many people did similar experiments on different flavors of Zhong Xue Gao ice cream under the same conditions, and found that this brand of ice cream is the most difficult to melt.
There are also consumers who put the ice cream directly into the hot oil and fry it for many times, until the plastic handle in the hand is completely melted and deformed, and part of the ice cream has not melted, and the oil that has been fried has completely turned black.
Some people compare other brands of ice cream with Zhong Xuegao’s ice cream. It was found that the other two brands of ice cream immediately or soon began to melt and drip liquid during the fire test. However, Zhong Xuegao’s ice cream, not only did not have any liquid flowing out, but also produced smoke and was accompanied by a burnt smell, and the degree of melting of the appearance was not obvious.
The phenomenon that the ice cream does not melt is contrary to people’s cognition. How can the high temperature not melt the ice cream? What exactly is added to it? Is it safe to eat?
In response, the company responded with a public statement saying that there is no ice cream that does not melt. He explained that the solid content is high and the water is low. After it is completely melted, it will naturally become sticky, and will not completely spread into a pool of water. In addition to the fact that some raw materials contain a small amount of water, the formula does not add drinking water, and only uses a very small amount of food emulsification and thickener, which are added in strict accordance with relevant national standards, and the public can eat with confidence.
The incident of Zhong Xue’s high difficulty melting has attracted the attention of the Shanghai Municipal Administration for Market Regulation, where the company is located.
Häagen-Dazs ethylene oxide incident is hotly debated in China
Interestingly, two batches of products from the American brand Häagen-Dazs were detected by the Taiwan Food and Drug Administration on June 21 as a toxic ingredient “ethylene oxide”. On the same day, General Mill China, the parent company of Haagen-Dazs, issued a statement saying that these two batches of products produced in France were found to contain a very small amount (0.071 ppm) of suspected ethylene oxide, but the Both batches were not sold in mainland China.
The time when the Chinese media brought up the Häagen-Dazs ethylene oxide incident was exactly the time when Zhong Xuegao did not melt the incident. Much of the discussion focused on the toxicity of ethylene oxide, and the possible route by which ethylene oxide, which is widely used in low temperature sterilization or in certain pesticides, could enter Häagen-Dazs ice cream—possibly by residues from sterilization equipment or packaging caused by, and possibly also, pesticide residues from raw materials.
However, the Chinese media’s hype on the Haagen-Dazs issue does not seem to be able to stop the public from various extreme “experimental” activities against Zhong Xuegao. And many discussions have put these two brands together and compared them, saying that the high price of Haagen-Dazs in China includes import taxes and the cost of monopoly freezers; and Zhong Xuegao, who claims to be “China’s ice cream” (homonym “middle ice cream”), the fundamental problem is that its price is too high.
Some people also specifically listed the ingredients of the two brands of vanilla ice cream to compare. It was found that Häagen-Dazs ice cream did not use any chemical additives, only natural vanilla pods were used, and only egg yolks were used as emulsifiers and thickeners.
And Zhong Xuegao’s vanilla ice cream uses not only flavor (vanilla pod extract), but also an emulsifier, three thickeners and a coloring agent.
Chinese media quoted FMCG researcher Wen Xian as saying that thickeners such as carrageenan are added to ice cream, and other Chinese brands also have them. Dissatisfied with its expensive price.
Zhong Xuegao leads China’s ice cream price hike
Zhong Xuegao ice cream has become popular on the Chinese Internet since 2018, and it is taking the high-end consumption route. A 78-gram Zhong Xue Gao ice-cream initially started from more than ten yuan (RMB, the same below) (about 2 US dollars), and then with the continuous introduction of new products, the price also continued to rise, and the highest price was 66 yuan ( about $9.9). Previously, the price of daily ice cream for ordinary Chinese people was only a few yuan (no more than 1 US dollar) at most.
Under the leadership of Zhong Xuegao, not only Mengniu, Yili and other Chinese dairy giants have also joined the trend of high-end ice cream, and even China’s most famous liquor brand Moutai has also launched ice cream containing Moutai (3%) across the border. scoop) tasting is priced at 39 yuan ($5.8) per serving.
Allison Malmsten, a consumer analyst at Beijing-based Daxue Consulting, said that while prices of raw materials such as milk did rise, the price of some Chinese ice cream/ice cream brands has risen faster than that of Zhong Xue Gao. rate of inflation.
Haagen-Dazs ice cream is sold in ordinary supermarkets and food stores in the United States, but it is a high-end brand in China. In larger supermarkets in big Chinese cities, Haagen-Dazs has its own freezer. Haagen-Dazs sells 69 grams of chocolate crispy strawberry ice cream on JD.com for 39 yuan ($5.8) each.
Responsible editor: Lian Shuhua#