Is ice-cream good for you? Scientists divided on claims about health benefits

Suggestions in the US that eating the dessert can be beneficial have been greeted by a ripple of scepticism from British experts

Delicious, sweet and full of saturated fat, the concept of ice-cream as a health food is as ridiculous as it is compelling.

But in what will be welcome news for many as Britain basks in warmer weather this week, an American public health historian has revealed how numerous studies over several decades have repeatedly found mysterious potential health benefits of the frozen dessert – only to be glossed over by scientists.