Business & Tech

We All Scream for Ice Cream—And Oak Park Has the Numbers to Prove It

Indulge. It's National Ice Cream Month with a special day, National Ice Cream Day, on Sunday, July 15.

Perhaps one of the lesser-known legacies of President Ronald Reagan is this: In 1984, President Ronald Reagan designated July as National Ice Cream Month and the third Sunday of the month as National Ice Cream Day.

To mark the president’s courageous action—recognizing ice cream as a fun and nutritious food that is enjoyed by a full 90 percent of the nation's population— surveys, fun facts, app information, diet calorie counts and a Twitter contest have been released in time for National Ice Cream Day, which is Sunday.

Who Buys Ice Cream in the ’Burbs

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Crain’s Chicago Business has released data about how much money each suburbs spends on ice cream, via an interactive map that shows ice cream spending by ZIP code. See the map here. Click on Suburan Cook County, then click on a municipality to see if its ZIP code falls above or below the national average (represented by an index of 100). If an area has an index of 105, then people there spent 5 percent more that the national average (an index of 95 means the area spent 5 percent less).

A look at the local scores: Oak Park's index is 137; River Forest 169; Maywood 86; Forest Park 92; Elmwood Park 100; Berwyn 91; Cicero 78; 

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Check out the Oak Park-River Forest Patch Directory for ice cream shops.

Now, a Few Fun Facts About Ice Cream

Here are a few fun facts from the International Ice Cream Association about ice cream, the frozen treat that makes everyone smile, especially in the summertime.

  • Ice cream is an $11 billion retail industry.
  • America is the ice cream capital of the world, producing more than 1.5 gallons of ice cream per year.
  • Each American consumes around 22 quarts of ice cream a year.
  • Vanilla is the most popular flavor in the U.S., pulling in 20-29% of all ice cream sales.
  • Chocolate comes in a distant second, with about 9 percent to 10 percent of the market.
  • Children ages 2 to 12 and adults over 45 eat the most ice cream per person.
  • One out of every five ice cream eaters admit to binging in the middle of the night.
  • Men binge more in the middle of the night than women.
  • One out of every five ice cream eaters shares their frozen treat with their dog or cat.
  • Premium ice cream is the most popular with consumers, but it has a higher fat content than regular ice cream.
  • Ice cream sandwiches and fudge sticks are the most popular ice cream novelties.
  • Pecans are the most popular nut and strawberries are the most popular fruit added to ice cream.
  • Frozen yogurt is resurging in popularity, as is no-sugar-added ice cream.
  • About 9 percent of all the milk produced in the United States is used to produce ice cream.

Ice Cream in the Digital Age

Thanks to the Northwest Indiana Times’ website, nwi.com, here are some apps ranked by Mobilwalla to get your appetite and creative juices flowing.

Apple

  • Allrecipes.com Dinner Spinner — Recipes, Drinks, and More. (Free)* Choose your dessert type and ingredients, and even your cooking level, to make a great ice-cream dessert. (Mobilewalla Score: 94 out of 100)
  • Sundae Maker (Free)* Addictive game of creating your own confection, with cones, ice cream, toppings and candies to make and share with your friends. (Score: 90/100)
  • Milkshake Maker! (Free) Fun for all ages: Make a virtual milkshake, adding ice cream and candy. Pick your pretty straw and toppings, and shake it up to real sounds. (Score: 84/100)
  • 300 Pie & Ice Cream Recipes ($0.99) Make scrumptious desserts by following mixing and cooking directions, for all skill levels. Fun to search by ingredients. (Score: 74/100)

Android

  • Weight Watchers Mobile (Free)* — Enjoy guiltless desserts with this calorie tracker and recipe app that offers dozens of low-calorie treats, including homemade ice cream, shakes and smoothies. (Mobilewalla Score: 85 out of 100)
  • Epicurious Recipe App (Free)* — Get dessert and homemade ice-cream recipes from some of the world’s most renowned chefs. Try the chocolate macaroon ice-cream sandwiches or the gingersnap lemon gelato. (Score: 84/100)
  • Ice Cream Now — Cooking Game (Free)* — Make tasty ice-cream creations and combinations with this creative game that includes recipes you can make at home. (Score: 50/100)
  • Glutton — Ice Cream (Free) — Enjoy summer with this fun game where you have to catch ice cream falling from the sky by tilting your device. (Score: 47/100)

Apps with an asterisk* denote availability on Apple and Android.

Mobilewalla is a search and discovery engine using breakthrough technology to score every app to help consumers navigate the mobile application marketplace. Apps are scored using an algorithm that weighs several characteristics, including user ratings, position within category and staff recommendations. For more app intel, go to mobilewalla.com.

For Debbie Dieters

From : If you’re choosing frozen treats just remember to monitor the portions you choose. 

Ice cream cones, single-serve cups and frozen treats that come on bars are good ways to know how many calories you are consuming and to make it easier to limit portions but sundaes, especially with several toppings can often lead to large portions and a larger number of calories. If you enjoy sundaes consider a few of these ideas to help you “have your ice cream and eat it to.”

First, decide if you want full fat ice cream or yogurt or if you can enjoy a lower fat or fat free variety. The difference in calories can range from 100 calories in a scoop of fat free frozen yogurt to up to 300 calories in a scoop of a premium brand ice cream. Once you decide what you will start with remember that the calories are based on a scoop so if you choose more than one scoop the numbers will add up.

No sundae is complete without the toppings and this is where we sometimes get carried away. A simple drizzle of chocolate, caramel or strawberry syrup can add 100 calories for two tablespoons but if you need a “drizzle” of all three or if you need sprinkles, coconut, chocolate chips – well you get the point.

If you’re looking for the best toppings the obvious would be fresh fruit, and this time of year the choices and flavors are wonderful, but if you prefer more traditional toppings consider the following.

Topping Calories

Chocolate chips 132 Coconut 142 Gummy bears 112 M&Ms 142 Oreos, crushed 134 Reese's Pieces 121 Sprinkles 28 Whipped cream 98

*Calorie data from USDA and CalorieKing.com

No matter what you choose make sure you take time to slowly enjoy your ice cream or frozen yogurt sundae since savoring food makes it easier to consume portions that are more appropriate for the calories we need to consume.

Ways to Enjoy Ice Cream

Baskin-Robbins, the world's largest chain of ice cream specialty shops, commissioned an independent survey of 1,000 U.S. respondents to get the scoop on how Americans plan to enjoy ice cream this summer. According to the survey, 82 percent of Americans plan to enjoy ice cream during National Ice Cream Month this year.

"National Ice Cream Month is a great time to celebrate the special place ice cream has in our lives and to enjoy your favorite flavor with friends and family," Dan Wheeler, Baskin-Robbins' U.S. vice president of brand and field marketing, said in a prepared statement."

According to Baskin-Robbins’ survey:

  • Seventy-seven percent of respondents said they eat ice cream at least once a month, 42 percent said they eat ice cream at least once a week, and five percent said they eat ice cream every day.
  • More than 50 percent of Americans would suffer through a "brain freeze"—the brief headache that results from eating frozen treats too quickly—to enjoy their favorite ice cream.
  • Seventy percent of respondents prefer to eat ice cream in a cup rather than on a cone.
  • More than 60 percent of Americans prefer hard scoop ice cream to soft serve.
  • Ice cream cake "took the cake" when it came to shared desserts, with 32 percent of respondents choosing it as the best option for summer parties over other choices such as brownies, pies or cookies.
  • Twenty-eight percent of Americans said cake was the best food to pair with ice cream, followed by 27 percent for brownies. Four percent of respondents said french fries made the best food and ice cream pairing.
  • Vanilla and chocolate were tied for respondents' favorite ice cream flavor, followed by cookies n' cream and mint chocolate chip.
  • Hot fudge topped the list for favorite ice cream topping, followed by caramel sauce and chopped nuts.

Twitter Sweepstakes

To help celebrate National Ice Cream Day, Baskin-Robbins is holding a Twitter sweepstakes Sunday, July 15 to give ice cream lovers a chance to win $260 in Baskin-Robbins gift cards, enough to keep the ice cream scoops flowing for a year. On that day, followers of @BaskinRobbins who Tweet their favorite Baskin-Robbins ice cream flavor using the special hashtag #BRflavors will be entered for the chance to win. For official rules and additional details about the sweepstakes, visit BaskinRobbins.com or follow @BaskinRobbins on Twitter this Sunday.


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