When you think of ice cream sandwiches, which is hopefully often, you think two cookies sandwiched together by a heaping serving of ice cream. The ingredients should be natural and fatty, just how we like it. However, over the weekend, an Australian grandmother found out that her ice cream sandwiches might have a little more than she bargained for.
Ice cream that never melts may sound like a Willy Wonka confection, but in reality it spells chemicals. Mary Salter, the Australian woman curious about the contents of her ice cream, took to Facebook to share the peculiar story of her grandson and his never-melting Coles brand ice cream sandwich.
It was late afternoon in Grafton, Australia and her grandson has just thrown a "skitz" after his ice cream sandwich broke in two. So he threw them. One landed in the grass, the other landed on cement. Grandma Salter decided to leave them there for animals to eat but none of them would go near it (not even ants). Four days later, in 78-degree weather, the ice cream sandwiches remained untouched and un-melted.
This obviously shocked Salter because, um, ice cream should melt. Another grandmother also chimed in about the peculiar frozen treat, posting a photo to the Coles Facebook page. Her image tells the same story. After two days in the sun near ants, the ice cream was neither melted, nor infested.
[facebook ]https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1573811102663352&set=p.1573811102663352&type=3&theater[/facebook]
Other media sources were quick to detail similar incidents. Vice pointed out that, after multiple YouTube experiments and a new channel exposé in 2014, Walmart admitted that the store brand's ice cream sandwiches contained almost no cream.
Coles, the Australian company behind the product, explained to a local news site that it's not weird the ice cream didn't melt: "Our ice cream sandwiches make use of very simple, commonly-used food techniques that help slow the melting process, and allows you to consume it without it falling apart in your hands...This technique includes adding thickener to the cream, creating a honeycomb-like structure which helps to slow the melting process. When the product starts to melt and liquid evaporates, you are left with what appears as foam."
Oddly enough, this sounds like an industry standard — so much so that "How It's Made" details the process that Coles described:
So if that doesn't sit well with you, why not try making your own ice cream sandwiches? It's worth a shot.
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