Cherry-vanilla water buffalo ice cream (FDA pondering new ice cream rules)

[shockra]

A push to revise rules for ice cream may lead to some interesting ingredients, say critics.

December 7, 2005: 3:13 PM EST

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com)

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Amid the eye-crossing proposals are new rules for using milk from animals other than cows in ice cream. This includes sheep and goats, much to the delight of health food store types. But it also includes yaks, water buffalo, reindeer and other exotic beasts the typical American consumer rarely associates with the white stuff in the plastic jug in the back of the grocery store.

Now these rules have been proposed by the International Ice Cream Association. If you look at their membership, you'll it is populated by Big Honkin' Corporations (Kroger, Dean Foods, Dreyers, etc.). And whenever Big Honkin' Corporations propose "new" rules ... well, some folks get suspicious, rightly or wrongly.

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His contention is that the proposed rules give ice cream manufacturers more latitude in using cheap milk from abroad ... like India. India's dairy industry, by the way, is over 90 percent water buffalo, in case you were wondering.

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Anyway, water buffalo milk is going for about 12 cents a liter (45 cents a gallon) now, said Bunting, versus about 2 to 3 bucks for cow's milk (at retail), so you see the economic advantage in using water buffalo milk. That is, use it without alienating customers.

Well, the feds have been toying with the proposed rules for about two years now. I'm guessing it will take a while longer until they make up their mind. In the meantime, you have until Dec. 27 to weigh in with the FDA, if you are so inclined.

http://money.cnn.com/2005/12/07/commentary/wastler/wastler/index.htm

[NYCGirl]

1. Not such a strange idea. You should try this (available at Whole Foods

and some other good stores). It's incredibly good!

http://www.starhilldairy.com/prod_yogurt.shtml

[GrpCaptMandrake]

2. Anyone who's ever had genuine

buffalo mozarella knows how yummy that stuff is. Gotta wonder if the same applies to ice cream.

I'm curious.

I also wonder if maybe water buffalo milk is produced in India with all the antibiotics and hormones we use on our cattle population here.

[Trillo]

3. Whatever rule changes are made

they need to make sure the label states precisely what the ingredients are, in clear, common-language terms.

[shockra]

5. Undoubtedly this is just a corporate ploy...

To replace cow's milk with water buffalo milk and make more money, yet still label it as cow's milk or just "milk".

If the flavor is different enough though, they couldn't get away with it. Most likely they would mix the two together (water down cow's milk) in a ratio where the difference in taste would barely be perceptible, yet they could still make a sizable profit.

[Trillo]

8. Yes, my thought precisely regarding milk sub-types.

if multiple types of milk are allowed, it's no longer enough to say just "milk" on the label, "cows milk" or "water buffalo milk", or "goat milk" will be needed.

And I'm also not talking about the manufacturer's advertising label, I specifically mean the official ingredient list required by law.

[Richard D]

4. Water Buffalo yogurt . . .

. . . is way more tasty than cow's milk yogurt. No problem for me if this happens at all.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

6. Yak Sherbet

sounds like something my dog does...

[Beaverhausen]

7. LOL!!!

:rofl:

[mtnester]

9. Best ice cream I have had in ages - corn with blackberries

yep....heaven...nirvana....you will die from delight - got some in the freezer right now...so damn good I nearly popped out of my skin because I would not have dreamed it WOULD be good.

Jeni's Ice cream in the Short North Market, Columbus, Ohio. Some of my other favorites:

Salty Caramel - you wil die it is so good
Lavender & Wild Blueberry - see above
Thai Chili - see above

Expensive? Yep. Worth it for a treat? Yep.

Take a look at her web site - she ships - so if you have some ice cream snobs on your Xmas list...

http://www.jenisicecreams.com/index.html

[Historic NY]

10. Yuppie ice cream, you know the ice cream elites...........

not a bad idea some is made on small scale now, including yougerts.

[atommom]

11. I would imagine that American agriculture wouldn't like the idea

of importing milk from abroad, when we have so many dairy farms here. Since there's certainly no milk shortage here, it does seem like a bad use of our resources to ship in dairy products from overseas. The potential payoff to the Big Honkin' Corporations must be pretty enticing!

[NashVegas]

12. I Don't Buy Ice Cream More Than 2-3 Times a Year

Seen the prices lately?

Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream goes for $3.60--> $3.90 these days (Nashville). And even less-exclusive brands' prices have nearly doubled over the last two years.

Ice cream's great, but I can't imagine anyone over the age of 30 is going to see it as important to have around for their kids - or themselves - at the current prices. It's great, it's not oil.

The big sellers that don't own and operate their own dairies can get WB milk cheap and sell their mass-produced product at a less premium price and get people back in the freezer case.