UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- Ice cream usually is considered "fun food," but industry and medical developments make it serious business at the 111th annual Penn State Ice Cream Short Course, Jan. 6-16 at The Nittany Lion Inn on the University Park campus.

The course is the nation's oldest, best-known and largest educational program dedicated to the science and technology of ice cream. Seminar director Bob Roberts, associate professor of food science in Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences, points out that several factors make ice cream attractive to people looking to start their own business.

"Everybody loves ice cream," Roberts says. "It's just a fun product. A former Penn State professor once told me that, no matter where he went in the world, whenever he saw ice cream, he knew he was in civilization. I think, based on some of the events of the last 18 months, that people are looking for things that give them comfort and pleasure and that say, 'we're civilized.' I think ice cream is one of them. But, first and foremost, ice cream is fun."

The short course provides instruction in every phase of commercial ice cream manufacture, including ingredients and flavors, manufacturing better quality frozen desserts and nutrition and additives. The 2003 course will feature more opportunities for participants to gain hands-on experience.

Roberts sees two factors drawing entrepreneurs interested in entering into the ice cream business: organic ice cream products and nutriceuticals -- foods with active medicinal properties.

"We mentioned nutriceuticals last year, and there's still a lot of interest in that," he says. "It's a way of producing a food that's good for you and good to eat. At Penn State, we're looking to develop various dairy products that incorporate omega-3 fatty acids, which are involved in the prevention of coronary heart and artery disease. Omega-3 fatty acids are found in fish oils, and we're looking for ways to stabilize the oils so that the ice cream doesn't taste fishy."

Consolidation trends have continued in the ice cream industry, Roberts says, with large companies getting larger. But there's a newer trend of small companies stepping in to fill niche ice cream markets.

"So other avenues for the entrepreneur include the potential to provide small-volume specialty flavors and organic products that the big companies aren't interested in," he says. "The other thing that I see in the industry is the introduction of new ingredients -- fruit-and-ice-cream combinations, for instance."

Other developments include good-tasting low-fat products, fat substitutes and dairy-soy blends that combine the benefits of each. New speakers for the 2003 short course include Douglas Goff of the University of Guelph, who will talk about ice cream microstructure, and Carrie Fry, vice president with the International Dairy Foods Association, who will talk about the control of allergens in ice cream.

For more information on the short course, call 814-865-8301, or visit the Web at http://conferences.cas.psu.edu or http://www.foodscience.psu.edu/.

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EDITORS: Contact Robert F. Roberts at 814-863-2959 or RFR3@PSU.EDU.

Contact: Gary Abdullah gxa2@psu.edu 814-863-2708 814-863-9877 fax #293