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New ice cream standards to tackle obesity

Laws governing the standards for Ice Cream in Ireland are set to be changed in an effort to comba...
Newstalk
Newstalk

10.55 3 Mar 2017


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New ice cream standards to tac...

New ice cream standards to tackle obesity

Newstalk
Newstalk

10.55 3 Mar 2017


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Laws governing the standards for Ice Cream in Ireland are set to be changed in an effort to combat obesity.

The Minister of State for Health Promotion, Marcella Corcoran Kennedy has proposed to revoke food standard regulations stipulating that Ice Cream must contain at least 10% sugar by weight.

The regulations ensuring ice cream must have minimum milk fat, milk solids and sugar content have been in place since 1952.

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A statement from the Food Standards Authority of Ireland (FSAI) said the sugar stipulation presents problems for any company wishing to produce reduced-sugar Ice Creams.

The authority said the 65-year-old standard is “no longer fit for purpose and has largely been superseded by EU legislation.” 

The authority aims to revoke the compositional standards “as soon as possible” and has called for opinions on the matter from members of the public to be made to the food unit at the Department of Health by March 15th.

A recent survey from Unilever found that Ireland has the highest consumption of Ice Cream in Europe outside of the Scandinavian countries.

According to Bord Bia the industry is valued at almost €80m.


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