How much ice cream cake strain can a child eat in a day?

Soft and sticky, with a strong milky aroma… Children love ice cream cake strain, but the “high sugar and high calories” and “trans fatty acids” also confuse many parents. Can children eat cream cakes?

• In general, the safety of finished cream cakes from regular merchants is guaranteed , but the raw materials of cream cakes from small workshops are uncertain and there are risks, so it is not recommended to buy them for children.
• From a health perspective, cream cakes contain high levels of saturated fatty acids and sugar, but the ingredients and nutritional content of different cream cakes vary greatly, so it is recommended that children should eat no more than the size of their fist every day. However, if it is a birthday, outing, or picnic, it is okay to occasionally eat more.

What are the ingredients in cream cake?

Ice cream cake strain usually refers to a type of dessert that contains both “cake” and “cream” ingredients.

The cream cakes on the market are often based on sponge cakes, and the cakes are smeared with whipped cream. In terms of ingredients, sponge cakes are mainly baked desserts made of wheat flour, sugar, eggs, vegetable oil, baking powder, etc. The main ingredients are carbohydrates and fats. If the proportion of egg liquid in the cake is higher, it often contains higher protein.

The “cream” spread on cakes is usually divided into the following categories[1]:

1. Animal cream

The standard scientific name is “cream”. According to the national standard GB 19646-2010 “Cream, Butter and Anhydrous Butter”, cream refers to the fat-containing part separated from milk.

This part may or may not contain other raw materials, food additives and nutritional enhancers, so the nutritional content of different creams varies greatly. The fat content of the final cream is approximately between 10.0% and 80.0%.

Because it comes from cow’s milk, we usually think of “cream” as “animal cream”. After being whipped and infused with air, the cream expands in volume and has a more stable texture. It can be used to decorate and spread pastries, and can also be used as a filling in cakes.

2. Margarine (vegetable cream)

The “cream” of “plant origin” in the ingredient list is actually “margarine”, an ingredient that imitates “animal cream”. It is often made from one or more vegetable oils and is made into a substance similar to natural cream through hydrogenation and emulsification [2]. It complies with the national standard GB5196-2015 “Edible Oils and Fats”. Because it does not contain animal ingredients, it does not contain cholesterol.

3. Mixed cream

Refers to the ingredients added by mixing animal cream and vegetable cream.

In general, no matter what kind of cream it is, the main ingredient is fat . If it is natural animal cream, according to the data in the Chinese Food Composition Table, the ratio of saturated fat to unsaturated fat is approximately 1:1. For hydrogenated margarine, the ratio of fatty acids often varies, but the overall saturated fat ratio is higher. Therefore, eating too much will not only make you fat, but may also increase the risk of cardiovascular disease[4].

Is there a need to worry about trans fatty acids in margarine?

Many parents are concerned that margarine contains trans fatty acids and that excessive intake may increase the risk of cardiovascular disease.

However, according to the requirements of GB28050-2011 “General Rules for Nutrition Labelling of Pre-packaged Foods”, any pre-packaged food that contains margarine must be labeled with the “trans fatty acid” content.

Due to advances in production technology, many margarines are now able to achieve “zero trans fatty acid” (trans fatty acid content per 100g of food <0.3g/100g)[6].

Generally speaking, according to the WHO’s recommendations, trans fat intake should be less than 1% of total daily energy intake. Based on the average daily energy intake of 1,300 to 1,400 kcal for a 5-year-old child. Trans fatty acid intake should not exceed 1.5 g per day. If a food is labeled as containing zero trans fatty acids, assuming its content is 0.3 g/100 g. Then a child would need to consume 500 g of the food to exceed the limit. Which is equivalent to 15 common chocolate pies.

Therefore, if a food is labeled as containing 0 trans fatty acids, generally speaking, there is no risk of excessive trans fatty acids if consumed normally.

But even so, the proportion of saturated fat in margarine is also very high, mostly around 50% of the total fat, and consuming too much can be harmful to your health.

Can children eat it?

In terms of safety, if the cream cakes are pre-packaged and processed in a factory in regular supermarkets, various food hygiene indicators (such as the acidity of the cream, the total number of colonies, etc.) must meet national standards, and they are definitely safe for children to eat.

If parents buy freshly made cream cakes, they should try to choose stores from big brand chains. As for freshly made cream eggs from small pastry shops on the street and in vegetable markets. Try not to buy them because the raw materials are not transparent.

However, from a nutritional point of view, cream cakes are not particularly healthy . The energy content of the cake base is high, and it is mainly made of refined wheat flour. Sugar and vegetable oil are also added, so the energy, sugar and fat content are not low. As for cream, animal cream has a high content of saturated fat and cholesterol. While vegetable cream has no cholesterol, but its saturated fat content is also high.

How much can children eat?

No larger than a child’s fist.

It is not a big problem for children to eat a small amount, but eating too much may indeed lead to excessive energy intake. Taking Hema’s egg custard roll as an example, a child’s fist-sized ice cream cake strain weighs about 50-60g, of which the saturated fat content is about 5-7g.

Taking a 5-year-old child as an example, according to the latest version of the Dietary Reference Intake. The daily energy intake should be between 1300 and 1400 kcal, total fat should account for 20% to 30% of total energy, and the proportion of saturated fat should be less than 8% of total energy, which is equivalent to no more than 12 g per day.

Considering that even if 50% of the saturated fat comes from cream cake. For children, eating one piece (the size of a fist) of cream cake a day is already the limit.

If you make your own cake, how can you make it healthier?

If you want to make cakes at home and be healthier, you can start with the choice of ingredients:

For example, for cake ingredients, in addition to choosing wheat flour, you can also replace part of the wheat flour with part of the (dark) whole wheat flour. Increase the content of dietary fiber and B vitamins, increase the proportion of eggs in the raw materials. Thereby increasing the overall protein content, use less sugar or choose part of the sweetener (such as erythritol) to replace white sugar.

As for cream, you can just choose a big brand of light cream. You don’t have to pursue pure ingredients, as long as you don’t add extra sugar. After all, most light creams, in addition to raw milk and cream, will have additional food additives (thickeners, emulsifiers) added to maintain the stability of the liquid.

Is animal cream definitely better than vegetable cream?

From the perspective of food processing, vegetable cream is more stable, slightly more plastic, and has lower cost. The main advantage of animal cream is that it has a more natural aroma and taste. In addition, most vegetable creams now have zero trans fatty acids. So compared to animal creams, there is no additional health risk.

However, in terms of ingredients, the proportion of saturated fat in both exceeds 50% of the total fat. Excessive intake may increase the energy burden and thus increase the risk of obesity. Therefore, there is basically no better one between the two.

However, since we are eating ice cream cake strain, everyone hopes to have a purer and more delicious experience. So cake with pure animal cream formula is naturally the first choice.

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