5 Fun Facts That Will Give You A Major Ice Cream Craving
As a child, you might remember getting rewarded with your favorite flavor of ice cream, served in those little plastic ice cream cups from your local ice cream shop. Or maybe you remember holding up the line while you insisted on trying every flavor with those little plastic tasting spoons or begging your parents for a paper ice cream cup to go. If so, then just about the only thing you need to know about ice cream is that it tastes really, really good.
Now, you're an adult, and we're guessing 12-year-old you would be disappointed to find out you only eat ice cream once every few weeks, even though you're a grownup and could literally be devouring an entire tray of ice cream cups right now. While we don't recommend gorging yourself on ice cream or hoarding frozen yogurt supplies in the mini-fridge in your office, we do recommend taking a break from your grownup life to devour these five fun facts about ice cream.
1. What's Really In Ice Cream?
We're guessing one of the reasons you don't eat ice cream every day, no matter how hard your inner child tries to change your mind, is because you think ice cream is full of sugars and fats. And while it's certainly a frozen treat that should be enjoyed in moderation, after churning, the ice cream filling those plastic ice cream cups is 50% air! And while gelato contains 3 to 8% milkfat, it contains 25 to 30% air.
2. The Freshest Item In The Frozen Food Section?
Despite sharing aisle space with frozen TV dinners that were manufactured long, long ago in a factory far, far away, most ice cream is produced in the month of June, when demand is at its peak. That means you often end up enjoying ice cream that only recently ended up in the freezer. Plus, tons of neighborhood ice cream and frozen yogurt shops make their frozen desserts on the spot.
3. A Nation Of Excess...
Every year, 1.5 billion gallons of ice cream and similar desserts are made in the United States alone! Sure, that might sound excessive, but is it really enough? Here's a bonus fact: the average American eats ice cream 28.5 times a year. Every two weeks, 40% of U.S. citizens enjoy ice cream.
4. The Times They Are A'Changing
We're living in frozen yogurt's world now... As of 2013, 2,582 fro-yo shops had spread across the country. And while that number has probably slipped from the peak of the frozen yogurt frenzy, it's still a hugely popular choice.
5. Got Milk?
Almost 9% of all the milk produced by U.S. dairy cows ends up in ice cream.
If this list hasn't convinced you to indulge your inner child and go track down one of those littleĀ plastic ice cream cupsĀ ASAP, then at least share this list with your friends so they can share in your unfulfilled ice cream craving!
