Abstract
In this work, a novel dietetic ice cream cookie, called Ice-Glu®, was designed to provide at least 1 g of oat ß-glucan per portion according to EU Regulation no. 1169/2011, and about 1 mg of cholesterol. It consisted of an oatmeal cookie of ~15 g, topped with 65-g ice-cream brick block, made essentially of skimmed milk, vegetable-based whipping cream, ß-glucan enriched oat bran and dark-chocolate flakes. Its eco-innovative characteristics derived from ingredients carefully selected, mainly of vegetable origin, with quite a low carbon footprint (i.e., oat, and vegetable fats). Moreover, it incorporated oat bran high in ß-glucan (28 % w/w), a byproduct of oat milling currently used as cattle feed. Since Ice-Glu® can be produced in the same processing lines used to make conventional impulse ice cream sandwiches, its operating costs and environmental impact were measured by accounting for just the market prices and global warming potentials of its basic ingredients. In the circumstances, the raw material costs (0.105 €) and carbon footprint (94 g CO2e) per each portion of Ice-Glu® resulted to be about 35 % greater and 20 % smaller than those of the conventional counterpart, respectively. Such an increase in the raw material costs of Ice-Glu® might be offset by its increased health and environmental benefits.
