Americans really love ice cream. On average, they enjoy 48 pints of ice cream per person, per year, according to The National Frozen & Refrigerated Foods Association (NFRA), Harrisburg, Pa. And, 98% of all U.S. households purchase ice cream, with more sold on Sunday than any other day of the week, while 87% have ice cream in their freezer at any given time.

The latest scoop on ice cream and novelties include:

• It takes 3 gallons of whole milk to make 1 gallon of ice cream; a cow gives enough milk to make 2 gallons of ice cream per day (or 730 gallons per year).

• The most popular ice cream flavors are Vanilla, Chocolate, Cookies 'n Cream, Mint Chocolate Chip and Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough; Pecan is the most popular nut flavoring and Strawberry is the most popular fruit in ice cream. The favorite ice cream topping is chocolate syrup.

• It takes about 50 licks to finish a single scoop ice cream cone; one in 10 people admit to licking the bowl clean after eating ice cream, and one in five admit to sharing with their pet.

• Cherry is the No. 1 Popsicle flavor.

• Ice cream sandwich rank as the best-selling ice cream novelty in America.