--- title: Ice Cream Sandwich Doesnt Melt and Freaks People Out description: An Australian women is concerned about a supermarket ice cream sandwich that won't melt in 80-degree heat, even after four days. canonical: https://time.com/4880503/coles-ice-cream-sandwich/ author: Raisa Bruner article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-07-31T15:51:47.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:46:01.498Z og:title: This Mysterious Ice Cream Sandwich Is Freaking People Out og:description: It refuses to melt in the heat og:url: https://time.com/4880503/coles-ice-cream-sandwich/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: This Mysterious Ice Cream Sandwich Is Freaking People Out twitter:description: It refuses to melt in the heat twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # This Ice Cream Sandwich That Just Won't Melt Is Really Freaking People Out > Sponsored content. 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The Brief is available free at time.com/newsletters, where readers can select it along with any of TIME's other six newsletters. There is no subscription required to receive it. #### Is The Brief free? Yes. The Brief is a free daily email newsletter from TIME. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes The Brief? The Brief is led by editor Richard Hall and draws on reporting from TIME's newsroom. Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically.  by [Raisa Bruner](https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/)  ## Raisa Bruner Jul 31, 2017 3:51 PM UTC  by [Raisa Bruner](https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/)  ## Raisa Bruner Jul 31, 2017 3:51 PM UTC Ice cream — and its associated treat, the [ice cream sandwich](http://time.com/4401970/ice-cream-museum-sprinkles-pool/) — is one of life’s small joys during the heat of summer. But for [one Australian woman](http://www.news.com.au/finance/business/retail/coles-ice-cream-sandwich-causes-ants-to-flee-in-terror/news-story/0399da29c72e8de0d2ca6380aefbce13), an experience with a mysteriously non-melting ice cream sandwich has left her scratching her head about the curious chemical content of the dessert. While most of us are accustomed to speed-eating ice cream during warm weather before it dissolves into a sweet soup, Mary Salter and her grandson had the opposite experience: the ice cream sandwich she purchased from Australian [supermarket brand Coles](https://www.coles.com.au/) has not melted, even after being left outside in temperatures of nearly 80 degrees for over four days. In a [Facebook post](https://www.facebook.com/coles/posts/1547714875292522) to the Coles page, Salter expressed her incredulity. “Can you PLEASE tell me just what is in your Coles ice cream sandwiches?” she asked the brand. She explained that her grandson tossed one half of a sandwich onto the ground outside over the weekend, but even four days later, it’s been untouched by any animals, insects, or even the warm weather elements. “There the two pieces sit — now I am a little concerned just WHAT is in this ‘treat,'” she continued. This is not the first case in which consumers have noticed ice cream behaving oddly; in 2014, [Walmart](http://time.com/4863904/doris-payne-octogenarian-jewel-thief-atlanta/) customers had a [similar ice cream sandwich](http://www.snopes.com/food/ingredient/walmarticecream.asp) experience. A Coles spokesperson explained the phenomenon [to Australian news](http://www.news.com.au/finance/business/retail/coles-ice-cream-sandwich-causes-ants-to-flee-in-terror/news-story/0399da29c72e8de0d2ca6380aefbce13) as pretty regular, however. “Our ice cream sandwiches make use of very simple, commonly-used food techniques that help slow the melting process, and allows you to consume it without it falling apart in your hands,” they said. “This technique includes adding thickener to the cream, creating a honeycomb-like structure which helps to slow the melting process. 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