UNIVERSITY OF ICELAND - REYKJAVIK  

Ice cream & sorbet

ECOTROPHELIA ICELAND 2012 - GOLD

Íslandus

Íslandus is a popsicle composed of organic whey flavoured with wild Icelandic berries, native herbs and plants like Birch, Arctic Thyme, Iceland moss and Carrageen moss, handpicked from wild Icelandic nature.

One of the big problems in food industry and western consumption habits is the waste of by-products, causing a lack of efficiency. Our development of the eco-innovative food product started by looking into different by-products to work with, which led us to whey. There are big volumes of whey discarded each year, which is a pollution in itself. Whey is also a very healthy produce, it has for example been associated with the reduction of high blood pressure (Halldórsdóttir et al., 2009), and has been a part of the Icelandic food cuisine for centuries. We wanted to use whey in a different way from the conventional manner and got the idea to create healthy popsicles based on local ingredients. Therefore, we chose to mix organic whey with wild Icelandic berries, native herbs and plants like Birch, Arctic Thyme, Iceland moss and Carrageen moss. All the ingredients are handpicked from the wild Icelandic nature. They have been used as medicine since the settlement and are considered to have beneficial impacts on people´s health. These ingredients give the popsicle a great taste and fresh flavour with the quenching whey. Íslandus is a modern popsicle with a twist, emerged in traditional Icelandic cuisine. A healthy, fresh and wild treat for young and old. It´s an exciting alternative on the market with its pure natural flavours and a surprising taste of the eccentric North. The product, Íslandus, is a mixture of organic whey, wild Icelandic berries and herbs. The flavour is mainly berry flavour with hints of herbs and whey. The whey gives it a distinctive quenching feature. Íslandus is fresh, flavoursome, and not too sweet. Whey is a by-product of “skyr” process and contains high quality proteins. Disposure of “waste-whey” into ecosystems is strongly environmentally degrading because of it´s high organic content. Worldwide, big volumes of whey are discarded each year, creating a major pollution concern. Increased utilization of whey relieves environmental impact. Our product contributes towards this goal.