Where does this come from, and can I check it?

Overrun measures how much air is whipped into the mix. The figure is taken from USDA, which is linked in full on this page. Every fact on Mondo Knows names its source rather than repeating an unsourced claim.

Is this really a food fact?

Yes. It sits on the Food shelf, one of 1,090 sourced facts grouped into space, animals, the human body, history, science and more. Category pages collect every fact in the same field.

What else can I read about it?

The links under the fact point to a quiz, game, puzzle or calculator on the same subject, and the shelf below shows related facts. The wording here is original, and quoted phrases are marked as quotations.

Mondo Knows Facts

Ice cream is half air by volume in some tubs

Overrun measures how much air is whipped into the mix

Ice cream is a foam of air cells, fat globules and ice crystals, and the amount of air added is called overrun. Supermarket tubs may run to fifty per cent air or more, which is why they feel light and melt quickly, while dense gelato is churned with far less. Freezing fast keeps the ice crystals small and the texture smooth.

Ice cream van at Canning Half-tide Dock, Liverpool — Rept0n1x · CC BY-SA 2.0 · licence · source

Where this comes from

USDA

Facts that can change over time are reviewed and updated. If something here looks wrong, Mondo would rather know than be confidently incorrect.

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Tags: ice cream, air, freezing

Ice cream is half air by volume in some tubs: the short answers

Where does this come from, and can I check it?: Overrun measures how much air is whipped into the mix. The figure is taken from USDA, which is linked in full on this page. Every fact on Mondo Knows names its source rather than repeating an unsourced claim.
Is this really a food fact?: Yes. It sits on the Food shelf, one of 1,090 sourced facts grouped into space, animals, the human body, history, science and more. Category pages collect every fact in the same field.
What else can I read about it?: The links under the fact point to a quiz, game, puzzle or calculator on the same subject, and the shelf below shows related facts. The wording here is original, and quoted phrases are marked as quotations.