How Old is Ice Cream?
May 28, 2025
” 15 billion liters consumed each year.”
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If the 1927 song “I Scream, You Scream, We All Scream for Ice Cream” by Howard Johnson, Billy Moll and Robert A. King is correct, then the world has been a noisy place for quite some time.
Though the exact origins of ice cream are unknown, historians agree this popular treat has been around for a very, very long time. The International Dairy Foods Association says the origins of ice cream may reach as far back as the second century B.C. Though he wasn’t around back then, the fifth Roman Emperor Nero, who ruled from 54 to 68 A.D., might have been so fond of iced treats that he routinely sent runners into the Apennine Mountains to retrieve snow that he would then flavor with fruits and juices. That tale might be apocryphal, but there’s no denying ice treats have been enjoyed for a long time.
Today, Ice cream remains a wildly popular dessert, with an estimated 15.4 billion liters of ice cream consumed each year around the world, according to the World Atlas. New Zealand consumes more ice cream than any other country, followed by the United States.
When it comes to ice cream flavors, the International Dairy Foods Association says vanilla is still America’s favorite flavor, followed by the others of the “Big Three”: chocolate and strawberry. Butter pecan and cookie dough round out the top five flavors in the United States. Vanilla reigns supreme worldwide as well. Forty-six countries choose vanilla over other options according to research conducted by Premier Inn, a United Kingdom-based hotel chain. Worldwide, Neapolitan and chocolate also are popular ice cream flavors.
