History and Development of Ice Cream Ice cream is often called "The Great American Dessert". Although the product is typically American, the U.S. cannot claim its origin. Very little is known of the early history of ice cream; however, the product is definitely known to have been introduced from Europe. The ice cream industry as we know it today, however was wholly developed in the United States. Ice cream undoubtedly evolved from iced beverages and fruit ices that were popular in early medieval periods, some of which probably contained milk or cream. The practice, in early times, of cooling drinks in ice and snow containing salt is a matter of record. It seems possible that in overcooling some of these punches, the "ice" was discovered. At any rate, various records of frozen fruit flavored ices have been found in European history and frozen ices are still more popular in continental Europe than in the United States and Canada. The United States has gained undisputed leadership among all other countries in the production of ice cream. The industry grew slowly until about 1900, when the output of ice cream did not exceed 25 to 30 million gallons per year. The annual production has been on a continuously increasing rate, with production of both soft and hard ice cream now at more than one billion gallons. This represents a per capita consumption of more than 19 pounds. Approximately 9% of the total U.S. milk production is utilized by the ice cream industry. History and Development of Non-Dairy Mixes and Products The first frozen or semi-frozen desserts and drinks were developed from non-dairy mixes, consisting mainly of fruit or berry juices, sugar and water. References can be found throughout the histories of Turkey, India and other Asiatic countries concerning desserts made by pouring a mixture of fruit or berry juice and sugar over snow, packed into cups. Alexander the Great, immediately after his conquest of Egypt in 345 B.C., caused fifteen trenches to be dug and filled with snow brought down from higher elevations, so that he might have the means of gratifying his taste for these cooled "punches". This type of drink retained its popularity throughout the years and is still served in many areas of the country under names which usually contain the word "snow", such as "snow cone", "snow berry", etc. Machines are still available designed to finely pulverize block or cube ice, which is then packed into a cup and topped with a few fluid ounces of fruit or berry juice and served exactly the same as it was over 2,000 years ago. Salt was used with snow or ice to further reduce the temperature of these "punches" below the normal melting point. This enabled the product to be served at 26 degrees F to 29 degrees F which produced a slushy consistency with far better holding qualities than when made simply from ice and flavor. However, it was not until the late 1920's when mechanical refrigeration, found in the average dairy plant manufacturing hard ice cream, enabled the production of true water and fruit ices.