After a freeze in ice cream enthusiasm, local vendors of the sweet treat have seen a recent increase in sales.

Over the last few years, Babcock Dairy and other local ice cream suppliers have seen a comeback in their sales — potentially a response to changing attitudes about dietary fat.

The scientific community’s opinion on milk fat has shifted to neutral or even positive. Milk fat contains short chain fatty acids and conjugated linoleic acid, which have been proven to reduce obesity and even cancer, John Lucey, University of Wisconsin professor of Food Science, said.

“The story about milk fat is a lot more complex than it was 10 or 15 years ago, when all animal fats were seen as bad,” Lucey said.

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— Babcock Dairy Store (@babcockdairy) October 28, 2015

On average, consumers have become more likely to choose milk fats, like real ice cream and butter, than they were in the past, Lucey said.

On campus, sales have been incredibly strong for the past two years, Bill Klien, director of Babcock Dairy, said.

This trend has also been echoed in local businesses. For example, State Street’s The Chocolate Shoppe, which creates sweets using 14 percent real milk fat, has seen a 20 percent increase in their sales in this year alone, Marsha Mabie, assistant manager, said.

“People are looking for more real ingredients and real tastes rather than cheap artificial stuff,” Mabie said.

Though there has been a significant amount of pushback against animal fats in past years, there is no longer a reason to condemn them, Lucey said.

Nutritionists, Lucey said, like to focus on fat because it is very calorie-dense. Cutting back on calories, along with lifestyle choices, are the predominant ways to loose weight. This is the reason fat is often cut out of diets, Lucey said.

Despite lower calorie options that use animal fat substitutes, consumers tend to prefer the taste of real animal fats over these substitutes. Options like vegetable oil do not produce a product of equal quality, Lucey said.

Despite its higher levels of fat, ice cream can be good for you. It has dairy, protein and good fats, Klein said.

“Plus, there’s nothing better to do at the end of a hard day of work than treat yourself to a big bowl of ice cream,” Klein said.