13 Facts You Probably Didn’t Know About Ice Cream

You love it, but how well do you really know ice cream?

1. The ice cream cone is over 100 years old.

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The first ice cream cone was made by Italo Marchiony in 1896 in New York City. But it wasn't popularized until the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair when Ernest A. Hamwi sold zalabia, a waffle-like pastry, next door to an ice cream booth.

2. Americans still scream the loudest for ice cream...

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At number one, Americans, on average, eat 48 pints of ice cream every year.

3. ...which makes sense, because it's part of being American.

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At Ellis Island, immigrants were actually served vanilla ice cream to welcome them into America. Most of the ice cream novices ended up spreading the strange new substance on bread.

4. Sweet and simple wins -- vanilla is still the most popular flavor.

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Mint Chocolate Chip and Cookies and Cream are hot on vanilla's heels though.

5. Freezer burn is nothing more than a little dehydration.

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Even ice evaporates, and if you leave your ice cream in the freezer for too long, ice cream gets dried out. To avoid this, cover the rim of the pint with a sheet of aluminum foil and then replace the cover. You can also avoid this crunchy fate by placing the pint upside down in the freezer. The melted ice cream will drip onto the lid instead of contaminating the good stuff.

6. California is the state that <3s ice cream the most.

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California is America's number-one ice cream-producing state, and it has been for 20 years. In fact, California made over 131 million gallons in 2012.

7. The biggest ice cream sundae was made in Edmonton, Canada.

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On Sunday, July 24, 1988, a nearly 25-ton ice cream sundae was created with 350-pound slabs of ice cream in 63 flavors.

8. It takes a LOT of milk just to make a single gallon of ice cream.

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Three gallons, to be exact.

9. Brain freeze is caused by blood rushing through the brain's anterior cerebral artery.

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Scientists conducted a test where volunteers sipped ice water through a straw. The blood flow of their brains was measured, and when the water hit their upper palate, an increase in blood flow through the brain's anterior cerebral artery was noted. When the artery constricted, brain freeze vanished. The cure? Sipping warm water.

10. Speaking of brain freeze...1.8 gallons of ice cream in six minutes is the world record for most ice cream ever eaten.

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Joey Chestnut scarfed down over 1.8 gallons of ice cream in six minutes, breaking his own world record.

11. Christianity played a part in the creation of the sundae.

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Methodists in Evanston, Illinois, banned selling ice cream sodas on Sundays because they believed soda fountains were dens of immorality. Drugstore operators retaliated by serving ice cream with the syrup without soda, which they called “Sundays.” They changed the name to “sundae” when religious leaders objected.

12. 3.3 billion gallons of ice cream are consumed every year in the world.

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This is enough to fill 5,000 competition-sized swimming pools.

13. There's a secret ingredient in ice cream: ~air~.

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Air is whipped into ice cream to make it soft. Without air, ice cream would be unscoopable, nearly as hard as ice. Premium ice creams contain about 25% air or less.

Get to know ice cream a little better by trying some new flavors.

Safeway's Open Nature is debuting Strawberries & Sweet Cream, Salted Caramel & Butter Pecan, and Chocolate made with nothing artificial. Acquaint yourselves!