03-08-2025
Tasmanian medicinal ice cream supporting palliative care patients, one scoop at a time
You won't find this ice cream at a cafe or supermarket.
It's been nutritionally fortified with medical-grade vitamin D3 and B12 and needs to be consumed under medical supervision.
"It's not to say a normal person couldn't eat the ice cream, it wouldn't harm them," said dietician Stephen Hodgkinson.
"But there are certain health conditions where we need to be mindful of limiting that protein. For younger children, especially."
It's a formula specifically designed for end-of-life patients in palliative care at Calvary's four private hospitals in Tasmania.
The included vitamins help increase their immune function and strengthen bone density.
The unique partnership with a Tasmanian ice cream business came about after Calvary hospital catering staff had asked: "Why are we feeding people food we wouldn't eat ourselves?".
It is now a passion project for Van Diemens Land Creamery chief executive Carly Palmer.
"Putting ourselves in the shoes of those people, in care or in hospital."
For the last two years, the company at Elizabeth Town, near Deloraine in the state's north, has been working with Calvary on the project.
Calvary Launceston general manager Kate Pryde said many palliative care patients had difficulties swallowing and struggle to eat solid foods.
"When you do need supplementary feed, you want something that is normal," she said.
"Particularly when you're talking about palliation.
The ice cream needed to hit clinical benchmarks before it was signed off.
Dietician Stephen Hodgkison was involved in this process.
"So getting the protein high enough was the number one consideration we were looking at.
"For people with some illnesses or older people, they have a higher need for protein.
"If they're not eating enough, their body will actually take it from other places.
From leatherwood honey to lemon curd, Van Diemens Land Creamery is used to modifying ingredients to make different flavours.
Making a high-protein ice cream though adds another level of complexity, according to the Creamery's managing director, Paul Amourgis.
"It needs more time to dissolve into the milk," he said.
"Then it needs to be managed carefully through the pasteurisation process to avoid heat shock.
The powdered vitamins B12 and D3 are added to the ice cream post-pasteurisation.
"The inclusions of vitamins in food are highly regulated under FSANZ," said Ms Palmer.
"We are approved to manufacture this product for special medical conditions."
Milk for the ice cream is sourced from a certified organic dairy farm on rolling, lush green paddocks at Sunnyside, about 20 kilometres up the road.
Farmer Mark Lambert milks around 560 Jersey cows there, supplying 100,000 litres of milk to the factory.
"Demand for fat and butter has really changed in the last five years.
"It's no longer demonised, it's now recognised as a health food, rather than a food to make you sick."
Mr Lambert has adjusted his calving pattern to can supply milk year-round for ice cream production.
"So we get milk every week," Mr Amourgis said.
"We have a bit of a peak through the summer with increased demand.
Paul and Jan Amourgis started their ice cream business more than 20 years ago, when they were running their own dairy farm in the Meander Valley.
The farm has since been sold and expanding their ice cream production for the domestic and overseas market is their primary focus.
Mr Amourgis said this project with Calvary was never driven by profit.
"If people lose the will to eat, it's great if in some small way [they get] to have some nutrients.
"And if it's in our ice cream, that's even better. That was the appealing part, I think."
Carly Palmer was recently named a finalist in the 2025 Tasmanian Palliative Care Awards for Outstanding Achievement and Innovation in Palliative Care.
