text/Zhang Tiankan
(Author Zhang Tiankan, litchi news special commentator, scholar, media person; this article is exclusively commissioned by litchi news client and litchi.com, please indicate the source for reprinting.)
The room temperature is 31 degrees, and the ice cream is placed 1 Doesn't it melt after hours? Recently, a certain brand of ice cream has caused controversy. In response to this, the ice cream manufacturer said: The main ingredients in the formula of this product are milk, cream, etc. The solid content of the product itself reaches about 40%. Except for the raw material itself containing a small amount of water, the formula does not add additional drinking water. In order to maintain the good flavor and shape of the product during the shelf life, the product only uses a very small amount of food emulsification thickener, which is added in strict accordance with relevant national standards, and can be eaten with confidence.
The manufacturer’s response is timely, but whether the food additives mentioned meet the national food hygiene standards requires investigation and verification by relevant parties before an accurate answer can be obtained, and the manufacturer’s own interpretation cannot prevail. At the same time, when consumers raise questions, relevant departments should respond quickly, investigate and release the results in a timely manner. This is a win-win situation for society.
However, why does the trivial matter of a piece of ice cream not melting cause such a big controversy? I'm afraid there's some other dissatisfaction behind this.
In people’s memory, a few cents or even a few cents for a popsicle was enough to satisfy people. The popsicles are so sweet and cool in the mouth. Eating popsicles is truly one of the happiest times of the day.
However, in today’s street stores, ice creams that cost just a few yuan are hard to find, and some seemingly inconspicuous ice creams cost more than 10 yuan, which has led to the saying of “ice cream assassins”. People use this to jokingly call those "sky-high-priced ice creams" that look unattractive and "lurk" quietly in the freezer, waiting to "stab" your wallet hard when you check out.
The ice cream brand that was criticized this time costs up to 66 yuan a pop. It is also known as the "Hermès" of ice cream. Since it is a premium product among ice creams, it must withstand the pickiness of consumers. As the saying goes, if you want to wear a crown, you must bear its weight. For high-priced ice cream, consumers will naturally doubt whether it is worth the price, and will pay special attention when encountering something suspicious. In particular, food that was originally expected to cost only a few yuan is now purchased at several times the price. Is it worth the money?
Consumers have strict requirements for high-end brands, and even use a magnifying glass to pick out flaws, which is completely understandable behavior. For high-end products, people do not think it is enough as long as they meet national standards, but often have higher requirements. For example, consumers are willing to pay high prices to buy "Hermès" in ice cream. They are buying face and peace of mind, that is, products that are healthier and have fewer additives. If high-priced ice cream contains a wide variety of additives with high content, it is equivalent to people paying a high price to buy green products (organic food) but buying ordinary products. It is inevitable that they will feel cheated.
Therefore, in this "ice cream does not melt" controversy, people not only want to know the real reason why the ice cream does not melt at room temperature, but also want to prove whether this ice cream is genuine. If there is really a problem with the product, then the vest of such high-priced ice cream should be peeled off so that consumers will no longer waste their money.
The same goes for other high-end products. Consumers will be very picky about the contaminants, microorganisms, additives, appearance, color, taste, etc. Such stricter standards are not unreasonable. On the contrary, they can promote products on the market to be more consistent in quality and price, forcing manufacturers to pay more attention to product quality instead of spending all their money on marketing.
