Last I checked, ice cream is supposed to melt into a puddle if it isn’t kept chilled, especially on a hot day. You know…that drop-all-over-your-hand if you don’t eat it fast enough ice cream (mmmmm!) But what if you found out your favorite ice cream didn’t melt to delicious ‘ice cream soup’ consistency when left out in the sun. Would you still want to eat it? Or would it gross you out?

The other day I came across a story online where this woman from Ohio accidently left her ice cream sandwich from Walmart (this same Great Value brand) out in the sun. When she remembered it was there hours later, it was pretty much in the same shape as she has left it.

I wanted to do an experiment to see if that was just a fluke, or if Walmart’s Great Value brand ice cream sandwiches really don’t melt in the sun. Here’s what I did:

I got the same results as the woman in Cincinnati! So I wondered: Why doesn’t it melt? What freaky ingredients are they putting in this stuff to keep it from melting? I checked out the list of ingredients and found that the Great Value ice cream sandwiches contain, as you probably guessed, many questionable ingredients.

There are 4 firming agents: Calcium Sulfate, Guar Gum, Carrageenan, and Carob Bean Gum. These are used in the sandwiches as a thickening agent and a stabilizer (click to learn more about these controversial ingredients). 

They also contain hydrogenated oils (trans fats) monoglycerides and diglycerides which show up on label as, “Mono-And Diglycerides.” Even just a small amount of trans fats can cause detrimental health consequences (like lowering your ‘good’ cholesterol and raising your ‘bad’ cholesterol, increasing the risk of heart disease).

These hydrogenated oils act as emulsifiers that prevent the “ice cream” from separating, and provide the sandwich with consistency. There is some ‘meltage’ that occurs, but it’s mostly the water content.

So next time you’re at the store navigating the shelves out for your favorite brand of ice cream, check the ingredients label first. Try to find ice cream with close to 4 ingredients (the basic ones needed to make real ice cream): milk, cream, sugar, egg yolks…and make sure that you know what each of them are.