Partial coalescence of the fat emulsion and its control by manipulation of the oil/water interface continues to be an active area of ice cream research and understanding at both the basic and applied levels have greatly improved. Interactions between all the discrete phases are increasingly being studied in more complex systems, leading to an appreciation of such things as the effect of air bubble size distribution on ice recrystallization. The importance of protein polysaccharide phase separation in the freezeconcentrated unfrozen phase and its effect on ice recrystallization has also been recognised. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.