Cool ice cream trivia

Here are some fun facts and trivia about ice cream to get all of us in the mood for the second annual ice cream roundup this Friday, right here at Joy of Desserts. Don't forget to participate; you'll give and receive recipes, meet new bloggers and promote your own blog, plus all participants will get an additional chance to enter the Julie & Julia giveaway!


Consumption
* Each American consumes a yearly average of 23.2 quarts of ice cream, ice milk, sherbet, ices and other commercially-produced, frozen dairy products
* Adults consume nearly one-half of all ice cream novelties
* The three cities in America that purchase the most ice cream on a per capita basis are: Des Moines, IA; Roanoke, VA; and Spokane, WA
* More ice cream is sold on Sunday than any other day of the week
* Ice cream consumption is highest during July and August
* July is National Ice Cream Month
* Children ages 2–12 and adults ages 45 and up eat the most ice cream per person
* The average number of licks to polish off a single-scoop ice cream cone is approximately 50
* 98% of all households purchase ice cream

Ingredients
* The favorite topping is still chocolate syrup
* The biggest ice cream sundae ever made was on July 24, 1988 — it contained 20.27 tons of ice cream, 4.39 tons of syrup and 5.22 lbs of topping
* 80% of the world's vanilla bean used for ice cream is grown in Madagascar
* It takes 12 lbs of milk to make one gallon of ice cream

Sales
* Superpremium and premium ice cream represent about 64.8% of the total dollar sales of ice cream
* Ice cream is a $20-billion retail industry
* The five states that produce the most ice cream are: (1) California; (2) Indiana; (3) Pennsylvania; (4) Texas; and (5) Ohio
* Ice cream novelties such as ice cream on sticks and ice cream bars were first sold in the 1920's

Source: Dreyer's/Edy's Ice Cream
Photo: Flickr Commons/~Devil's Angel~