Ice cream shrinkage: A problem for the ice cream industry

When ice cream is shipped from one altitude to another, a change in atmospheric pressure can contribute to shrinkage of the product. Although few recent references exist regarding the problem of shrinkage caused by changes in altitude or pressure, several pertinent articles were published in the 1940s and 1950s. Small air cells, heat shock, high overrun, small ice crystals, improper blending of ingredients, and a wide range of temperature changes during storage are some of the causes of shrinkage in ice cream. Factors reported to reduce shrinkage were 1) factors that tended to produce large air cells and large ice crystals, 2) use of caseinate as an ingredient, 3) higher pasteurization temperature, 4) use of corn syrup instead of cane sugar, 5) reduced milk solids and sugar, 6) higher draining temperature, and 7) use of mono-and diglycerides with polysorbate 80.