Tag Archives: Ice Cream

Random Food Fact #131 – LESS FAT doesn’t always mean MORE SUGAR…

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Ask any nutritionist and they’ll tell you…

be careful when buying low fat products, they often contain more sugar

While this is in fact true in many instances, every rule has exceptions. Consider Chapman’s Ice Cream. Like most brands, Chapman’s has a “Premium” full fat version and a “96% fat-free version”…
Chapmans Ice CreamWhile the 97% fat-free claim seems like a too good to be true fallacy, take a closer look at their Nutrition Facts tables…Chapmans Ice Cream NFtNot only does the “96% fat-free version” contain substantially less fat ( only 2.5 grams of fat versus 6 grams in the “Premium” variety), it compensates for the lack of fat with a negligible one additional gram of sugar (containing 15 grams, versus 14 grams in the “Premium” version).

What we learn from this example is that there are few “rules of thumb” that hold true in all circumstances, not only in nutrition, but in life in general. The moral of the story is…you have to read the label.

I learned about this fact from: a trip to the grocery store. Don’t ask me why I was spending so much time in the ice cream aisle 😉

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RFF#33 – Ice cream cones were popularized at the 1904 World’s Fair when an ice cream vendor ran out of cups and a waffle vendor helped him out

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As the story goes, Ernest Hamuri, a Syrian immigrant, was the waffle vendor who rolled up his waffles for Arnold Fornachou, the teenage ice cream vendor who had run out of paper cups, at the 1904 World’s Fair in St. Louis, Missouri. Apparently the “waffle cone” took off immediately and many of the other ice cream and waffle vendors at the fair quickly collaborated to copy their creation.

There’s debate over who actually invented the ice cream cone. While this was probably the first major appearance of the edible, conical shaped waffle cone we all know and love, other edible ice cream containers of various sorts were recorded as early as the 1700s. As a matter of fact, an Italian immigrant by the name of Italo Marchiony held the first patent for an ice cream cone mold, in 1903. However, his “cone” apparently was more like a cup with handles.

This diagram is from Marchiony's 1903 patent application, illustrating his ice cream cup mold

This diagram is from Marchiony’s 1903 patent application, illustrating his ice cream cup mold

One point of clarification, it’s likely that Hamuri wasn’t technically selling “waffles” but rather, “zalabia”, which is a flat, waffle like pastry that is popular in the middle east.

I learned about this fact from: Dr. Bob Brewer; http://www.idfa.org/news–views/media-kits/ice-cream/the-history-of-the-ice-cream-c/ and http://www.google.com/patents?id=kBVUAAAAEBAJ&pg=PA1&source=gbs_selected_pages&cad=2#v=onepage&q&f=false

If you’d like to see Marchiony’s original patent application click here