It's a fact of life: ice cream, no matter if it's in a cone, cup, or sandwich form, will melt if you leave it in the sun. It's a lesson that many a sticky, grubby child has learned while trying to eat ice cream under a hot sun. No matter how much the public wishes it, there's no such thing as ice cream that won't melt in the sun.
Right?
So, image the surprise that Christie Watson, a mother of two from Cincinnati, experienced when she stumbled upon a Great Value ice cream sandwich that had not melted completely, despite the fact that her son had left it some 12 hours before in 80-degree weather. Thinking it was a fluke, Watson left out another ice cream sandwich from the same brand overnight on their patio table and got the same results.
"What am I feeding to my children?" she asked, alarmed and appalled.
When compared to other ice cream products, such as a Klondike Bar and a cup of Haagen Dazs, the Walmart Great Value ice cream sandwich did not melt a lot when placed in the hot sun for 30 minutes. In fact, the treat actually retained its shape, and could still be identified as an ice cream sandwich.
When contacted for a response, Walmart' spokesperson Danit Marquardt had this to say:
"Ice cream melts based on the ingredients including cream. Ice cream with more cream (sic) will generally melt at a slower rate, which is the case with our Great Value ice cream sandwiches. In the frozen aisles, Great Value ice cream sandwiches are one of the top sellers, and we are glad to be able to offer a great treat that families love."
For visitors to the Walmart website, they will see that these ice cream sandwiches contain the usual ingredients such as milk, sugar, buttermilk, whey, and corn syrup. However, these ice cream products also contain, "... 1 percent or less of mono-and diglycerides, vanilla extract, guar gum, calcium sulfate, carob bean gum, cellulose gum, carrageenan, artificial flavor, and annatto for color."
These additional ingredients are used for both preservation and additional flavoring of these ice cream treats.
While nutritionists have stated that there's nothing wrong with the Great Value ice cream sandwiches, you might want to splurge a little bit and get the high-quality ice creams next time.
