A New Scoop: Re-Engineering a Classic Ice Cream for a Healthier Future

High rates of metabolic diseases, such as Type 2 diabetes, affect people worldwide—and Kuwait is no exception. ‘Kuwait has a Type 2 diabetes prevalence of more than 20%,’ said Dr. Ebaa Al Ozairi, Chief Medical Officer at the Dasman Diabetes Institute (DDI).

One of the main drivers of Type 2 diabetes is obesity, combined with our growing reliance on ultra-processed foods. But as it is unrealistic to expect most people to stop the consumption of these foods, the pressure is on the food and beverage industry to re-engineer healthier alternatives.

Founded in 1962, the Kuwaiti Danish Dairy Company (KDD) is a family-oriented brand that is blazing a new trail regarding improving nutrition in Kuwait. “KDD has long been appreciated as a cultural icon in Kuwait because they go beyond just providing products,” said Wolfram Alderson, Executive Manager of Research and Innovation at KDD. “There’s a genuine interest in the health of consumers, and that drove the leadership to say, ‘let’s update how we design our foods with the latest science.’”

This interest in consumer health has led to a ground-breaking partnership between the KDD and the DDI, with a grant from the Kuwait Foundation for the Advancement of Sciences (KFAS), to re-engineer KDD’s classic chocolate ice cream. The goal was not just to replace added sugar with healthier sweeteners, but to maintain the same flavor, consistency, and quality that the brand is famed for. “We know that our customers, the people here in Kuwait who’ve grown up with KDD chocolate ice cream, wouldn’t take kindly to a product without the same deliciousness factor, even if it has better nutrition,” said Alderson.

In addition to re-engineering the ice cream, the KDD also wanted to quantify the benefits of the new formulation. To achieve this goal, a clinical trial was required. “This was a partnership between DDI and KDD, funded by KFAS, to address important societal needs,” said Al Ozairi.

The trial is a “huge achievement: the first randomized, cross-over trial conducted on the local Kuwaiti population. The aim of the study was to evaluate the postprandial glycaemic response in people with type 2 diabetes,” said Dr. Al Ozairi. The results showed that the no-added-sugar ice cream demonstrated significantly lower blood glucose and insulin responses in people with diabetes. While the new ice cream formulation does not have added sugar, it still contains some sugar from natural products within milk. “People with diabetes need to understand it’s not what other brands might claim is ‘zero total sugar’ it is no added sugar, but it improves the spikes of the blood glucose,” said Al Ozairi. “Clear messaging to the people is very important.” The paper titled, “Reformulating ice cream to improve postprandial glucose response: an opportunity for industry to create shared value” has garnered significant international attention, receiving more page views than 96% of all other articles published in the Frontiers in Nutrition journal.

After the success of the clinical trial, three flavors of the newly formulated ice cream, branded “Good for Me,” were launched in June 2024: chocolate, strawberry, and vanilla. The launch was accompanied by a symposium, which Al Ozairi said was “very well received and probably one of the most successful events that Dasman has led with public engagement.”

In addition to creating a healthier version of KDD’s much-loved ice cream, this research has generated other benefits, including inspiring the next generation of Kuwaiti scientists. “What we’re really proud of is the amount of capacity building that we have done in this project,” said Al Ozairi. “The whole team that has run the research project are young Kuwaitis from different sectors.” The project also underwent the scrutiny of Professor Carel le Roux, a worldwide expert in obesity. Another benefit of the project was its emphasis on the community-driven nature of the Kuwaitis who participated in the trial. ‘This was a rather laborious experiment, undertaken entirely for the purpose of advancing science and addressing community needs,’ said Al Ozairi.

Both Alderson and Al Ozairi are grateful for the support received during this trial. “The KFAS team has been very enthusiastic and really understands how important it is to connect the dots between the industry and health outcomes,” said Alderson. “None of this would be happening without them (Chairman and CEO of KDD, Sir Mohammed Jaafar, and Deputy Chairman, Deputy CEO and CFO of KDD, Ms Bahia Ezzat Jaafar) commissioning this project,” he added.

The hope at the KDD is that research such as this inspires other companies within the food and beverage industry to believe that change is possible: “We’re sharing this research openly so it can benefit other companies, including our competitors,” said Alderson. “We need an ecosystem of competition…we want people competing to make healthier products versus competing to make unhealthy products.”

At the DDI, this project is the beginning of new aspirations to spread the importance of shared value throughout the private industry. “We will be working on many future projects that look into different aspects of how to incorporate new products at KDD, while also welcoming other private industry companies to address important health issues including low muscle mass, sleep, and well-being,” said Al Ozairi.

After the success of the three “Good for Me” ice cream flavors, the KDD is now working on re-engineering a wide range of their products, as well as developing new releases. “There’s no limits to how far our leadership wants us to go,” said Alderson.