U of G creates some crazy ice cream flavours for a good cause

Residents can now taste a little bit of luxury which was created partially by food scientists at the University of Guelph.

They're called LOTTO MAX Dream Bars and come in four flavours, all inspired by the life of a millionaire; rare oil painting, private island, designer handbag and grail sneaker.

Derek Vella, director, department of food science at U of G, said the Ontario Lottery and Gaming (OLG) Corporation approached the university in May with the idea and had the final product ready in about two months. 

Currently, the ice cream bars are available in pop up locations at different events in Toronto and Muskoka until Sept. 21, with future locations pending. To learn more, click here. 

"It was an unusual project, but it was a lot of fun," said Vella, who notes the university was approached by OLG and FCB, a marketing company, about the campaign due to its leading expertise in ice cream. The product was also made in collaboration with a Toronto ice cream company called Creamery X.

"It was kind of liberating to be working in a completely creative environment, where really, our only goal is to create something that was novel and accurate and surprising."

To create the flavours, scientists used a machine which can identify up to 300,000 different types of volatile compounds that are released from food when eaten. 

"For this project, it was sort of a combination of relying on known compounds that we know already exist in there, so we had the challenge of making something that tasted like the thing they wanted it to taste like, but it also had to be food safe and still tasted good," said Vella. "For something like a rare oil painting we did a combination of flavour analysis, but mostly it was looking at what goes into, say, an oil painting, what compounds are there, and matching them to a food flavour."

Alessia Roma, a general manager at the Guelph Food Innovation Centre (GFIC) involved in the project, said private island was the easiest flavour to approach and create, while designer bag and grail sneaker dream bars were a little harder. 

“Getting to a level of rubber and leather that was still obvious to the consumer, but that tasted good, was a challenge," said Roma. "We did try to compliment it with other things, other flavours and other notes that are a little more favourable, but still complimented those flavours to create a well-rounded experience."

To compliment the leather flavour of the designer handbag dream bar, floral notes found in perfume were incorporated. For the grail sneaker dream bar, lapsang souchong tea provided the flavour of rubber, but added notes of smoke.

"That was really the approach we took, was ensuring those components, like the rubber or leather, or the paint taste, were prominent, but that they were complimented by these flavours that were a little more palatable," said Roma.

When it came to creating these novelty flavours, Roma said ice cream was a good medium to work with as ice cream is a well-liked product. 

“We found the sweetness and the creaminess of the ice cream allowed for the flavours to build gradually, so that the way flavours work, is they evaporate off, and that's what your sensing, and with a cold product, that evaporates occurs more slowly," said Roma. "So what we were saw with these types of products, is that you might take one bite, and after a few seconds is that you start to sense the flavours, and as you consume more and more that builds up, so for something that is a little shocking and surprising, it works well for this type of medium."

Vella notes OLG was initially incredulous the university would be able to recreate the flavours through food ingredients. 

"When they tasted the concepts, I think they were absolutely blown away " said Vella, "they were really, really surprised by how accurate they were, and again, going back to that balance of, 'just because you can make it taste like a shoe, doesn't mean you want to make it taste like a shoe.'"

Each LOTTO MAX Dream Bar costs five dollars and all proceeds will go to Toronto-based organization, Friends of Ruby, which provides 2SLGBTQIA+ youth with a supportive community, drop-in services and programming, mental health counselling, case management, and housing.