Mood-enhancing ice cream brings a smile to British faces
ever mood-enhancing ice cream, according to a report in Scotland on
Sunday. The company, based in Aberdeenshire, Scotland has added the
essence of an orchid , native to Alaska, US, to a low-calorie ice
cream, a recipe it claims makes people happy.
Scottish ice cream-maker Mackie's is launching what it claims is the world's first mood-enhancing ice cream, according to a report in Scotland on Sunday. The company, based in Aberdeenshire, Scotland has added the essence of an orchid native to Alaska to a low-calorie ice cream, a recipe it claims makes people happy.
The flower essence is a legal mood enhancer which creates the feeling of intense pleasure after it has been tasted.
Mackie's marketing director, Karin Hayhow, said: "Flower essences are now well known for their mood-enhancing properties but they have never been used before as a food ingredient."
"Ice cream is often a comfort food but, with the addition of flower essence, we could take this to another level, where comfort turns to joy," she added.
Hayhow noted that while the orchid essence had been used for many years in lotions and oils to induce a sense of wellbeing, this is the first time it will have been added to food in the UK.
Dubbed the ultimate 'good mood food' , the ice cream apparently received a warm response after it was quietly tested at a food show in Birmingham last month. The ice cream will be marketed under the name Vibrant.
Most food experts asked to comment on the product thought that it was merely a gimmick.
Sales of Mackie's conventional ice cream have doubled in the last five years to more than four million litres per annum. This follows a move by the company in 1999 to begin manufacturing organic ice cream with tanker-loads of milk being driven into Aberdeenshire from Austria.
Kate Dalmeny of the Food Commission, the UK's independent food watchdog, said it was a shame that people always thought that they had to eat fatty, sugary foods to make themselves happy.
"It sounds like a lot of fun but I wouldn't like to think that people will feel that they will eat this ice cream and find true happiness. It takes a lot more work than that, I'm afraid," she said.
Dr Bernard Senior, a food expert at Dundee University, added: "I have heard nothing like this before. I think it's a load of codswallop. Many people are gullible and there are those who will go out and buy it. No doubt it will make a lot of money for someone."
