According to an article in the New Scientist in 1983, Thatcher trained as a chemist in the late 1940s and worked on a research team for food manufacturer J Lyons & Co, researching ways to stabilise a cheaper, lighter ice cream.
The team invented a way to add more air into the ice cream so that it was less dense and used fewer ingredients, which also made it more cost-effective.
The new formula also made it possible to push ice cream through a machine, producing soft serve ice cream’s signature soft-serve swirl.
On its website, UK ice cream van franchise company Mr Whippy confirms Thatcher’s involvement in this technological scoop.
Thatcher left her chemistry career in 1952 to return to law school, but despite only a brief time in research, The Royal Society honoured her with a fellowship in 1983.
It isn’t the former Conservative leader’s only dairy connection. In 1970, as secretary of state, she was dubbed ‘Thatcher, Thatcher, Milk Snatcher’, when the UK government removed free school milk for the over-sevens as part of sweeping cuts to meet election pledges on tax.
Source: Washington Post/BBC/Business Insider/Mr Whippy
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