Can you have ice cream for lunch?

Italians eat approximately 4 kilos of ice cream per personbetween artisanal and packaged, every year. Many as a dessert, for example to accompany a walk after dinner or as a snack. But in recent years the habit of replace a meal, usually lunch, with ice cream. Especially starting from spring and especially in summer. Is this a nutritionally sound habit? And what elements should we pay attention to?

We asked this to Michelangelo Giampietropresident of the IGI, theItalian Ice Cream Institute. Giampietro is a medical specialist in Nutrition Science and Sports Medicine and teacher of Food, Nutrition and Hydration at the School of Sport-Sport and Health in Rome. Contract professor at the School of Specialization in Sports and Exercise Medicine of the Wisdom of Rome and in various academic masters, he is also the author of scientific and popular articles and books on nutrition, physical activity and sport.

Can you have ice cream for lunch? What precautions should you take to maintain nutritional balance?
“Ice cream is made with milk, eggs, sugar, with the addition of coffee, cocoa or fruit, all ingredients with a good nutritional value. Eating, for example, a cream ice cream, you introduce proteins with a high biological value, carbohydrates with rapid absorption and ready energy availability, such as lactose and sucrose. But it also provides water, vitamins, A and B2, and mineral salts, such as calcium and phosphorus. If we then add a couple of wafers or a biscuit, obtained from cereals, the nutritional composition of the meal is enriched with complex carbohydrates, such as starch. With these excellent nutritional elements, Ice cream has also rightfully entered the proposals for low-energy diets. Specifically, the advantage of packaged ice cream is in the label, since everyone can decide the quantity to consume based on their needs; knowing the energy value, it is easier to regulate the daily requirement. If you decide to eat it as a substitute for a main meal, you could pair with a simple salad and fresh seasonal fruitthus improving its fibre intake and nutritional balance.”

How much does ice cream “weigh” in nutritional terms, what needs does it satisfy and what is it lacking?
«It is important to choose the format and type suitable for the consumption situation: it is better to opt for a less caloric format – from 100/150 kcal – for a mid-morning or mid-afternoon snack, while if you consume it as a meal, it is preferable to choose one that provides approximately 350-400 kcalcombining it with a portion of fruit and vegetables or greens».

What are the nutritional differences between artisanal ice cream and packaged ice cream? And which one should you choose for an ice cream-based meal?
«With the same flavours, creams or fruit, and type, cone or cup, there are no substantial differences. The difference lies in the nutrients based on the type chosen: for example, if we opt for the cone, we add the complex carbohydrates of the wafer, which make the nutritional intake more complete and balanced, if we think of ice cream as a meal replacement. Furthermore, the packaged ice cream indicates the grammage and the Nutritional table and, if you are following a low-calorie diet, we are able to know exactly the energy intake of our meal. There are many advantages in eating ice cream, even the packaged one, since it is a hygienically safe foodwhich has no need for preservatives – contrary to what is a real false belief – as it is linked to the cold chain, and free from contamination, as it is protected by its packaging. Furthermore, for years now, it has no longer contained hydrogenated fats, potentially harmful to health and can contribute to the daily requirement of various nutrients, also helping children and the elderly to be properly hydrated. Packaged ice cream can also be consumed in complete safety by pregnant women, due to the very high standard of the production process and because it has zero risk of bacterial contamination: the eggs are pasteurized and it is protected by the packaging. Finally, ice cream has no contraindications for the elderly, on the contrary, it can be a help in cases of poor appetite and difficulty chewing, swallowing or dehydration.

What should we pay attention to when we buy packaged ice cream?
“The rigorous manufacturing processes, subjected to scrupulous controls, and the correct maintenance of the cold chain, which prevents the proliferation of bacteria and microorganisms that can be harmful to our health, make packaged ice cream a product that is always good and safe for our health. By reading the labels of ice cream, we can have a lot of useful information about the product we have in our hands. The information that interests us regarding the expiration date of ice cream is the TMCor rather the minimum shelf lifealways reported on the packaging. This date indicates the date until which the ice cream retains its characteristics intact, provided that it is stored correctly. With a little experience and attention, you can recognize a well-preserved packaged ice cream even before purchasing it. By checking the freezer temperature, which should be around -18 degreeschecking that the products do not exceed the red line usually indicated on the walls of the freezer and there should not be too much frost on the walls of the freezer and on the ice cream packaging: the presence of a large quantity of ice crystals indicates that the temperature is not constant. In any case, as long as the temperature of the ice cream remains below zero, there is no danger to health».