More thoughts on food on a stick and a weird food
I'm still stuck on this whole food on a stick and summer thing. As I was gazing longingly in the ice cream freezer at the supermarket early this morning -- I've learned I can only buy strawberry if I want it to last more than a day in my freezer because no one else in my family will eat strawberry. It's certainly not my favorite, but at least it's there when I need it. But that's another story -- I realized I had forgotten to mention ice cream with the hard chocolate shell on it as another example of summer food on a stick.
That may be the longest sentence I've ever written. Sorry. Anyway, ...
...when I got to work I found an e-mail from consumer blogger Liz Kay about yet another weird food, Slow Melt Ice Pops.
Why is this so disgusting? Popsicles should melt. That's the whole point. The enjoyment is fleeting; grab it while you can. Like the little boy in the photo, we all need a mom to wipe the blue melted stuff off our arm.
So who's going to step up to the plate this time, buy a box, try them and tell us how it went? I used the store locator on the Web site, and Slow Melts seem to be available at every supermarket in the area.
Comments
My first thought was that it must have gelatin (more jello!) and it does have that, but looking further down, it has something called ice structuring protein. Be afraid; be very afraid.
Posted by: Rosebud | June 23, 2008 4:26 PM
Apparantly the slow melt is because one of the ingredients is gelatin. So that makes it somewhere between a real popsicle and JELL-O® on a stick.
More interesting is that they come 20 to the box, but the nutritional data is based on 1/29th of the box (29 servings per 20 piece box). Are we supposed to tell young Tommy to stop licking after it gets down toward the end, and give it to Timmy to finish?
Posted by: Mr. Old Fart | June 23, 2008 4:26 PM
These looked pretty normal:
INGREDIENTS: WATER, PEAR JUICE (FROM CONCENTRATE), SUGAR, CORN SYRUP, HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP, LEMON JUICE (FROM CONCENTRATE), CHERRY JUICE (FROM CONCENTRATE), STRAWBERRY JUICE (FROM CONCENTRATE), NATURAL FLAVOR, GELATIN, CITRIC ACID, MALIC ACID, VEGETABLE JUICE (FOR COLOR), TURMERIC (FOR COLOR), ANNATTO (FOR COLOR), ASCORBIC ACID, ICE STRUCTURING PROTEIN. CONTAINS 10% FRUIT JUICE.
No glycerin. Wait ... ice structuring protein? Sweet frozen Buddha on a stick! Isn't that what they used in the Andromeda Strain?
I notice you're not offering to try them. EL
Posted by: Owl Meat Grapesicle | June 23, 2008 4:31 PM
As much as I like using my kids in experiments of bioweapons, I checked out this sad video first.
Slow melt Erin, SLOW melt! I think she said snow melt about five times. I want to see kids eating popsicles. I want to see kids covered in sugary goo being devoured by ants at picnics.
Posted by: Terrier Mom | June 23, 2008 5:11 PM
"protein produced by certain vertebrates, plants, fungi and bacteria that permit their survival in subzero environments." "Binds to small ice crystals to inhibit growth and recrystallization of ice that would otherwise be fatal (Madura, 2001)."
Looks like most of it comes from fish.
Posted by: GCC | June 23, 2008 5:21 PM
My favorite form of chocolate on ice cream is Magic Shell, the topping that forms a delicately thin coating on your frozen treat of choice. The Internets offer some homemade/DIY Magic Shell recipes to try in the privacy of your own kitchen.
Posted by: Liz Kay | June 23, 2008 5:55 PM
I would try them, but popsicles seem a little infantile for someone of my sophicated tastes. Maybe when Chino returns he will be our guinea pig.
Posted by: Owl Meat Grownup | June 23, 2008 5:58 PM
Ice structuring protein - also known as antifreeze protein. Interesting stuff. Not what I'd want for a snack.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antifreeze_protein
And no, I'm not volunteering either. What I'd be more interested in is a melting comparison of a "normal" posicle and a "slow melt" popsicle to see how much more slowly the "slow melt" popsicle melts. Perhaps someone with small children (who could eat the rest of the various popsicles, since you'd have to buy two boxes) could do the experiment.
Posted by: Mr. Old Fart | June 23, 2008 6:09 PM
ISP is gelatin? You wish. Wouldn't it say gelatin if it was? And didn't Bill Cosby whore himself out for years for Jell-O brand pudding pops?
Upon further investigation ...
http://goliath.ecnext.com/coms2/summary_0199-6822600_ITM
So, what suspends the meltdown effect for a longer period of time? It's an "ice-structuring protein," or ISP, that delays dripping via a fermentation process that utilizes baker's yeast to keep ice pops from slipping off the stick prior to consumption.
According to Unilever, "ISPs are commonly found in nacre, where they exist to help organisms to exist in cold climates."
The company points out that it has conducted a series of studies on ISP safety and determined the process to be GRAS, which is the US Food and Drug Administration's acronym for "Generally Recognized as Safe."
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Oh, ISPs are found in nacre. I love nacre. What the hell is nacre?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nacre
Nacre, also known as mother of pearl, is an organic-inorganic composite material produced by some mollusks. It is strong, resilient, and iridescent. Pearls and the inside layer of the pearl oyster shells and the freshwater pearl mussel shells are made of nacre
Nacre is composed of hexagonal platelets of aragonite (calcium carbonate (CaCO3) crystals) 10-20 µm wide and 0.5 µm thick, arranged in a continuous parallel lamina. These layers are separated by sheets of organic matrix composed of elastic biopolymers (such as chitin, lustrin and silk-like proteins). This mixture of brittle platelets and the thin layers of elastic biopolymers makes the material strong and resilient. Strength and resilience are also likely to be due to adhesion by the "brickwork" arrangement of the platelets, which inhibits transverse crack propagation. This design at multiple-length sizes increases its toughness enormously, making it almost equivalent to that of silicon.
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Nacre - it's what's for dessert. Autism - it's what's for after dessert.
Posted by: Owl Meat Gelatin | June 23, 2008 6:16 PM
Where is brave hmpstd, who threw himself on the dreaded BagelFuls, when we need him?
Posted by: Dahlink | June 23, 2008 7:46 PM
Ahh yes genetically modified fish protein...can anyone say
"ATTACK OF THE FISH MONSTERS"?
http://www.themilkweed.com/Feature_06_Dec_1.pdf
Posted by: Anonymous | June 23, 2008 8:40 PM
Dahlink -- there are some things I wouldn't touch with a 10-foot stick.
Posted by: hmpstd | June 23, 2008 11:09 PM
Ice structuring protein ... could we use that to make umami pudding pops??f
Posted by: MD Canon | June 23, 2008 11:45 PM
If on my Tuesday trek through Wegmans I'm feel brave and strong, maybe.
Posted by: Robert (the Single One) | June 24, 2008 1:01 AM
hmptsd ... he's melting ... slowly
Posted by: voodoopork | June 24, 2008 7:20 AM
hmptsd ... he's melting ... slowly
Posted by: voodoopork | June 24, 2008 7:48 AM
I just went to the store yesterday! I might go again tomorrow and buy them if they sell such things down here.
Posted by: Rob in PCB FL | June 24, 2008 1:31 PM
ISP. Nacre . Sounds like an invention of Felix Hoenikker.
Posted by: Laura | June 24, 2008 10:07 PM
I'd volunteer my boys (ages 7 and 3) and me to try, but the kids are leaving for grandma's for a few days and won't be back until next week (woohoo!). I can't bring myself to try them without my kids input.
Posted by: CKisMom | June 24, 2008 11:33 PM
For ten months my sister and I moved into my mom's place to take care of her as part of an in-home hospice program. Now, when it comes to food my sister buys whatever is the cheapest. We all love orange cream sicles so when she found a bargain at some off brand supermarket of an off brand popsicle she bought a huge box of them. Well, they tasted terrible but even more interesting was that they never completely melted. The inner portion melted but there was what I can only describe as an outer skin that remained intact. This outer skin was not apparent until the 'ice cream' was allowed to melt. Strange stuff. Needless to say she was taken off ice cream shopping duty.
Posted by: Regina | June 26, 2008 7:15 AM