Walmart's ice cream sandwiches won't melt in heat, video shows

Walmart has made the “unmeltable” — an ice cream sandwich that doesn’t melt.

News of Walmart’s “magical” Great Value ice cream went viral after a woman in Cincinnati told local news station WCPO on July 15 that her son’s ice cream sandwich was left outside in 80-degree weather for 12 hours and didn’t melt.

Christie Watson was surprised to see the ice cream was still there. 

"I thought that's quite weird," Watson told WCPO. "So I looked at the box, and it doesn't say artificial ice cream. It says ice cream."

In fact, she was so surprised she decided to run another test, and ended up with the same result.

Since the Cincinnati mom made the recent discovery, dozens of people and news stations across the country have experimented with different brands of ice cream.

Dan Collins, of Sioux Falls, South Dakota, was one of these people. 

A radio DJ for KIKN 100.5, Collins proved on camera on July 29 that Walmart’s ice cream sandwiches really don’t melt in a YouTube video titled “Walmart Ice Cream Sandwich Won’t Melt! We Prove it.”

Collins left a Great Value ice cream sandwich outside on a plate in sunny, 80-degree weather alongside a scoop of Blue Bunny vanilla ice cream.

Within 30 minutes, the Blue Bunny ice cream was in a puddle. One hour and fifteen minutes later, Walmart’s ice cream still wasn’t melting.

“It’s apparent that it’s really not going to melt the whole way,” Collins said.

The YouTube video has already been viewed more than 1.6 million times since it was posted on Tuesday.

“Is it really a ‘Great Value’?” Collins asked at the end of the video. “Well, maybe if it was real ice cream it would be.”

It is “real ice cream”; it just has more cream, Walmart spokesman Danit Marquardt explained to Newsday.

"Ice cream melts based on the ingredients including cream,” Marquardt said. “Ice cream with more cream will generally melt at a slower rate, which is the case with our Great Value ice cream sandwiches.”

Walmart’s ice cream sandwiches contain the ingredients corn syrup, guar gum, carob bean gum and cellulose gum, which act as stabilizers to help the ice cream keep its shape, according to a study by the Department of Food Science and Technology at Ohio State University.

“If it melts, it’s a problem and people complain. If it doesn't melt, it’s also a problem and people complain. You can't win with some people,” one YouTube user commented on Collins’ video.

No matter what people think, Marquardt said Walmart is focused on customers and making sure they’re getting the treats they like.

“In the frozen aisles, Great Value ice cream sandwiches are one of the top sellers, and we are glad to be able to offer a great treat that families love."