Why don't ice cream sandwiches melt anymore?

[Deleted]

This is kind of horrifying?
 -------------------------------

Why don't ice cream sandwiches melt anymore?

Don't Waste Your Money



John Matarese



A mom of two young children is wondering: What's in ice cream sandwiches these days?



Christie Watson's kids love eating ice cream. But one recent morning, she saw an uneaten ice cream sandwich sitting on her patio table. When she looked closer, she couldn't believe what she was seeing.



"I noticed that my son had left his ice cream sandwich outside," she said, "and I was wondering 'why is there still ice cream in there?'"



The Walmart Great Value sandwich had barely melted 12 hours later....even though it was an 80 degree morning.



"I thought that's quite weird," she said. "So I looked at the box, and it doesn't say artificial ice cream. It says ice cream."



Was it a Fluke?



Watson says she grabbed a second sandwich and left that out overnight, and ended up with the same result.



"Monday I came out and looked at it," she said, "and there was still ice cream there. So I thought to myself: what am I feeding to my children?"



We wondered, too, so we did a test.



We set out a Walmart Great Value sandwich, a Klondike Bar sandwich, and a cup of Haagen Dazs in the hot sun for 30 minutes.



The Haagen Dazs melted quickly into a puddle.

The Klondike sandwich melted to a fair extent.

The Walmart sandwich, though it melted a bit, remained the most solid in appearance, and still looked like a sandwich.

We contacted Walmart, which did not want to release an official comment.



However, sources close to the company told us "ice cream melts based on how much buttermilk, butterfat, and cream are in it. Walmart's sandwiches contain less, so they are more affordable. But they are healthy and meet all FDA guidelines."



What's in That Sandwich?



A check of ingredients confirms why Haagen Dazs melts quickly, like ice cream from days of yore.



Walmart's ingredient list includes corn syrup, guar gum, and cellulose gum.

Unilever's Klondike Bars's ingredient list is very similar to Walmart's, with similar gums added.

Haagen Dazs contains just cream, milk, sugar, and eggs, and vanilla, but no corn syrup or gums of any type.

However, we should also point out a cup of Haagen Dazs or another premium ice cream costs about $3. For the same price you get a dozen ice cream sandwiches from Walmart, or other stores.



For store brand sandwiches to be as natural as Haagen Dazs, the price would have to be significantly higher.



But even though there's nothing wrong with Walmart sandwiches, Watson misses old fashioned ice cream that melts quickly out in the sun.



Whatever ice cream you prefer, don't waste your money.


www.wcpo.com/money/consumer/dont-waste-your-money/why-dont-ice-cream-sandwiches-melt-anymore

[cjeanette]

So don't buy Walmart brand? Stop the presses....breaking news.

[lya]

Its the gums. That is the whole reason they are added in the first place, to create a more stable product. In this case that means something that won't melt as easily. They act as a thickening and stabilizing agent.

[sa]

I have a box of ice cream sandwiches in my freezer. Kind of tempted to give this a try. I don't know that I want to know the results though.

[madringal]

Eating a melting ice cream sandwich was one of the best part of my childhood. Lick all the edges, smoosh the sandwich, lick all the edges, smoosh the sandwich, and keep repeating. I would be very sad if I got one that wouldn't melt!

[Deleted]

My friend made ice cream sandwiches with home made cookies and talenti ice cream this weekend. They were delicious and melted down my arm. So much better than the Walmart ones.

[ESF]

FDA says you can add a TON of shit to ice cream and still call it ice cream.

www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cdrh/cfdocs/cfcfr/CFRSearch.cfm?fr=135.110

The gum that prevents melting is pretty much the least of your problems.

[genet313]

Jul 22, 2014 16:23:50 GMT -5 farmvillelover said:

sometimes i feel like i can't eat shit i don't grow myself these days

but now i want some haagen daz lol

this exactly.  i've now gotten to the point of reading every label for weird looking things, and it's making me very stressed when i shop.  

which, of course, i ignore every time i'm craving combos or some other equally nasty yet delicious crap.

[jenn248]

Is it wrong that this is just making me crave an ice cream sandwich?

[msmerymac]

Jul 22, 2014 16:05:05 GMT -5 v said:

However, we should also point out a cup of Haagen Dazs or another premium ice cream costs about $3. For the same price you get a dozen ice cream sandwiches from Walmart, or other stores.

No shit, lol. That's pretty much the point. Use cheap fillers, create a cheap product. Mmmm, government subsidized corn. Our tax dollars at work.

[rbp]

Homemade ice cream sandwiches are so.freaking.good.

[teatimefor2]

Jul 22, 2014 16:23:50 GMT -5 farmvillelover said:

sometimes i feel like i can't eat shit i don't grow myself these days

but now i want some haagen daz lol

This exactly and thanks to goldfish gate, everyone knows this about me. A fantastic book on this topic is Opening Pandora's Lunch Box. It's a really interesting topic and gets into the FDA's involvement in food regulation.

[my3bears]

Jul 22, 2014 16:38:12 GMT -5 genet313 said:

Jul 22, 2014 16:23:50 GMT -5 farmvillelover said:

sometimes i feel like i can't eat shit i don't grow myself these days

but now i want some haagen daz lol

this exactly.  i've now gotten to the point of reading every label for weird looking things, and it's making me very stressed when i shop.  

which, of course, i ignore every time i'm craving combos or some other equally nasty yet delicious crap.

What's scary is I learned in a nutrition class in college that they only have to list ingredients that your body absorbs or processes. If there are chemicals that "go out the same way they went in," they don't have to list them at all. *shudder*

[AAM2012]

Jul 22, 2014 16:22:18 GMT -5 ESF said:

FDA says you can add a TON of shit to ice cream and still call it ice cream.

www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cdrh/cfdocs/cfcfr/CFRSearch.cfm?fr=135.110

The gum that prevents melting is pretty much the least of your problems.

The FDA says you can add a TON of shit to everything and still call it food.

[karinothing]

Well I can say that this is not the case with the ice cream sandwiches the pool sells as my child is covered in melted ice cream in all of 2 seconds (they are name brand though).

[Deleted]

Because global warming is clearly a myth. #fact

[lasagnasshole]

Jul 22, 2014 19:31:34 GMT -5 karinothing said:

Well I can say that this is not the case with the ice cream sandwiches the pool sells as my child is covered in melted ice cream in all of 2 seconds (they are name brand though).

WHY WAS I NOT TEXTED ABOUT THIS POOL OUTING?

Goddammit.

I'm just taking half of next Monday off and heading to Hains Point.

ETA: because kari knows Iove her.

[karinothing]

Jul 22, 2014 19:36:27 GMT -5 lasagnasshole said:

Jul 22, 2014 19:31:34 GMT -5 karinothing said:

Well I can say that this is not the case with the ice cream sandwiches the pool sells as my child is covered in melted ice cream in all of 2 seconds (they are name brand though).

WHY WAS I NOT TEXTED ABOUT THIS POOL OUTING?

Goddammit.

I'm just taking half of next Monday off and heading to Hains Point.

ETA: because kari knows Iove her.

ha ha. It was not today! Just in the past lol. We can go next week! I am OOT on Monday though.

[thatgirl2478]

Well, that really is creepy huh?  I mean, I KNOW that these things are in our food, but I don't usually think about them.  Certainly makes me think ...

[MadamePresident]

Is sad what is disguised as food these days. I don't really like ice cream sandwiches anymore because they are so bland.

Aldi has pretty decent ice cream without a lot of extra junk that isn't expensive. I go through a ton of ice cream,  since I pretty much have a bowl or cone every day. 

[noodleoo]

That's gross. I bought a box of hood mini ice cream sandwiches and I noticed they seemed weird (I too wait for them to melt and lick the edges!) checked the box and sure enough they are full of crap. I'm very disappointed.

[xokell2]

Jul 22, 2014 17:48:01 GMT -5 teatimefor2 said:

Jul 22, 2014 16:23:50 GMT -5 farmvillelover said:

sometimes i feel like i can't eat shit i don't grow myself these days

but now i want some haagen daz lol

This exactly and thanks to goldfish gate, everyone knows this about me. A fantastic book on this topic is Opening Pandora's Lunch Box. It's a really interesting topic and gets into the FDA's involvement in food regulation.

Oh no, what'd (how'd?) I miss about goldfish?