On top of being full of historical sites, Pennsylvania is a state with an amazing foodie scene. From Pennsylvania’s many historical restaurants to state specialties like Birch Beer, there’s lots to try in Pennsylvania. Perhaps one of the most iconic foodie locations in Pennsylvania is the Penn State campus creamery, which is both a proprietor of delicious ice cream, including both classic and unusual ice cream flavors, and a historical landmark all rolled into one.
The only thing more recognizable than the creamery itself is its unusual policy about mixing flavors. According to Jim Brown, the assistant manager of the creamery, mixing flavors isn’t allowed to avoid cross contamination. By keeping a stricter policy than most places, it helps avoid the possibility of mixing allergen ingredients.
Food safety is the biggest reason why this policy is in place, but it’s also due to timeliness. Mixing flavors would be complicated and time consuming for the already busy creamery. As such, the creamery finds it easier to just nix the option to mix flavors, with the only one documented exception in the creamery’s history.
The ice cream incident with Bill Clinton
In 1996, then-president Bill Clinton paid a visit to the Penn State campus creamery. Apparently, the politician was unaware of the otherwise well established rule regarding mixing flavors. He ordered a scoop of Peachy Paterno ice cream, but later asked it be topped with a scoop of Cherry Quist.
An employee at the time informed Bill Clinton that this order was not possible due to the policy regarding mixing flavors. However, the manager at the time decided to make an exception just this once.
According to newspaper reports, Clinton later said that if he had known about the policy beforehand, he wouldn’t have made the request to begin with. He later made another visit to the creamery four years later, but didn’t repeat his request to mix flavors, seemingly remembering what happened the first time around. Since then, the creamery has never made another exception.
