On Thursday, TheBlaze published an interesting report about an ice cream sandwich that seemingly could not melt. A Cincinnati mother claimed she left a Walmart-brand ice cream sandwich in her backyard over night, and she awoke the next morning to discover it had not melted. On radio this morning – in the name of science – Glenn, Pat, and Stu decided it was time for a little science experiment.
“We also have a science experiment today that we'd like to do because a mother was ‘shocked’... that her ice cream sandwich didn't melt 12 hours in the hot sun,” Glenn explained. “She said these are Walmart ice cream sandwiches, and they don't actually melt in the sun.”
The story got picked up by the local ABC affiliate WCPO-TV, who spoke to Christie Watson about what she experienced with the ice cream sandwiches.
“I thought that’s quite weird,” Watson told WCPO. “So I looked at the box, and it doesn’t say artificial ice cream. It says ice cream.”
Watson said she decided to try the experiment again – setting out another sandwich from the same box over night. She claims to have gotten the same result: The ice cream barely melted.
As TheBlaze reported, WCPO did its own experiment with different brands of ice cream. They discovered:
- 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.
Furthermore, the station took a look at what ingredients make up the ice cream sandwiches:
- 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.
Needless to say, there are a lot of variables at play in this situation. But Glenn, Pat, and Stu decided there is no better test than the blazing Texas sun. They tried the experiment this morning with three different types of ice cream sandwiches – two from Walmart and one from Blue Bunny. It took just minutes for all three to turn into soup.
According to the Siri on Stu’s iPhone, the temperature in Dallas was 77 degrees. In direct sunlight, those sandwiches melted almost instantly.
“If you look at that, that's a fake story,” Glenn said. “I don't know how the TV station in Cincinnati [did it].”
“It didn't last one hour outside,” Pat added.
If you feel inclined to give this experiment a try, let us know what you find in the comments below.