What's going on in your ice cream

Frozen cream, right? Wrong. In fact, the definition of what counts as ice cream varies around the world, with some mandating a certain amount of cream, while others using it as a catch-all term for treats including sorbet and frozen custard. Whatever you call it, we eat a lot: by retail value, global ice cream sales weighted in at $50 billion (£38 billion) in 2014. That year, China overtook the US in terms of retail volume, scooping out 5862 million litres. Low fat and fat free and gluten free options are on the rise, and there’s an increasing appetite for artisanal ice creams, especially in North America and Europe.